Breaking point
by lame8
Summary: Finals are coming up and everyone is busy. Some are dealing with stress better than others and sometimes even the best friends have trouble noticing when the other is struggling. This time Blaine needs someone to look out for him - who will that be?
1. Chapter 1

_Hey guys... this is my very first fanfic, so I'm pretty nervous about it. I haven't written anything in a very, very long time and I'm not sure why I felt like it, all of a sudden. _

_I'm sure the characters are pretty OOC but maybe you'll like my little story anyways. I'm not a native speaker (and horrible with the evil comma) so I'm sure you'll find some mistakes. If they're terrible and disrupt your reading flow let me know and I'll fix them!_

_I'm excited to become a more active member of this community and hope to get done with the next chapters soon._  
_Thanks to all the great authors out there, that made me want to try it myself._

_Oh and of course: I don't own anything!  
_

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Dalton Academy was a good place.

Kurt was pretty sure of that after about a week. That's how long it took him to get rid of the constant fear while walking from and to classes or to go have lunch. Instead of hiding of stupid jocks that were out looking for trouble he saw smiling faces that actually wanted to meet and get to know him.

Of course they were still teens and Kurt was sure that there was plenty of gossip about him and the reasons for his transfer in the middle of the school year floating around the school. But he could live with that. That was nothing he wouldn't do too. In fact Kurt knew he was a giant gossip queen – and he loved it. But what he didn't get at Dalton was constantly harassed, verbally and physically abused or threatened for his life.

So yeah – Dalton had been good to Kurt. He had spent the last two months studying and trying to catch up. There was a reason tuition was steep and many of the graduates went on to Ivy League schools after being done with Dalton. The teachers demanded a lot – A LOT, but on the other hand they had been so very helpful from day one on. It seemed that they were always willing and happy to help. Never did Kurt have the impression he'd be a burden or that anyone would be judgmental about him and his past at McKinley.

But what he did truly miss was home. Not his old school or Lima – but home. The feeling to belong  
somewhere, to be able to see his family and friends whenever he wanted and ramble about his day, the latest movie he saw or that ridiculous hair color that lady at the mall had. Family dinners most evenings and the pat on the back by his dad when he went off to another frightening day at school.

He tried to call as often as he could and he was surprised to see, that his dad never even said a word about his phone bills, since he had to change his plan about three days after his move.

Mercedes hadn't asked – but told him to call her at least three times a day. And when Mercedes wants something, you'll better give it to her. He had learnt that the hard way.

But he had realized that there were a bunch of things he would just have to get used to in order to adjust to Dalton. And to adapt he wanted. Not necessarily by wearing the uniform wherever he went, but to make new friends, keeping up in his classes and by not being homesick every waking minute.

So far so good though. He got along fine with his roommate Brad, who was a year younger than him and who gave him extra closet space, cause Dalton sure wasn't equipped for the wardrobe of one Kurt Hummel – and that was just the few things he actually took with him!

Brad was a quiet kid and also fairly new to the school. Since he was pretty shy, he had had a hard time making friends and ended up pretty happy to get a roommate. Kurt enjoyed feeling like he could help him with some of his homework or just by generally being nice to him. It made it that much better to have to share a room, and he actually liked it too, to have someone to chat to at night after the stress of the day fell off him.

What made the Academy to much better though, were Blaine, Wes and David.

Blaine wasn't only the cutest boy Kurt had ever seen (in real life at least), but a very decent guy and an amazing friend. That much he'd already known before he even transferred, but now Blaine had been going out of his way to help him adapt.

Kurt had never felt so comfortable with someone after such a short time. Not only did Blaine seem to be interested in what he thought or said, but actually seemed to get it - something he unconsciously had always missed with most of his McKinley friends.

He had developed a crush on Blaine pretty much the minute he had seen him, but fortunately there hardly ever was any weird awkwardness between them – on the contrary he had managed to build up a meaningful friendship - which he had always seen as the perfect base for a relationship anyways.

He wouldn't lie to himself though. Of course he debated if Blaine liked him that way too – like… all the time. But more than that, he thought that he just liked his presence in his life and knowing that he had someone that liked him just the way he was or even precisely because of the way he was. Blaine had been amazing and even though he wondered sometimes what had happened in his past Kurt was careful not to push for too much information.

Blaine was not like him in that area.

He didn't share very quickly and although he was a spectacular listener, he wasn't that great of a talker himself.

It was fine though – he let some stuff about his family slip whenever it seemed to fit into their conversation and Kurt felt like he knew the 'Blaine- basics', like his favorite book, film, musical and color as well as just the general info about his family.

They just never had that relationship changing conversation that went deep into the night and left them closer than ever before. So far it had never really come up and Kurt had been reluctant to approach it head on. Stuff like that had to happen organically.

And it wasn't like he thought Blaine desperately needed to share with him. It would be more for his own benefit anyways.

He was sure that Blaine had people he'd share with.

Wes and especially David seemed very close friends to him and appeared to be able to read him without words – something Kurt still needed to work on. Blaine had perfected his 'I'm fine' smile and Kurt sometimes was just too engrossed in his own, very exciting (school) life to notice.

Life had calmed down for Kurt, even if it was just a bit and he wanted it to stay that way. He was looking forward to day-to-day life at Dalton and making sure his dad knew that spending their entire honeymoon savings on him hadn't been a waste.

For now though he had a very tiring time ahead to worry about. Finals were just around the corner and time was running out to catch up and get done all that reading that had piled up on his desk. The others weren't fairing that much better though, and that seemed to ease Kurt's worries at least a little bit.

Wes and David were rarely seen outside the library and Kurt felt like he hadn't seen Blaine for what felt like a week.

In reality of course he had just seen him last night at Warbler practice, but they all had scrambled apart quickly to get done with their homework or finish other assignments that had been on the backburner for far too long.

"Good morning Brad!" Kurt said when he came out of the shower and back into the room he shared with the other boy.

"Hey Kurt! How's it going? Are you planning on going to breakfast or were you planning on skipping again?"

"Nope, I'll be joining you in a second if you don't mind waiting for me."

Dalton's uniform had sped up Kurt's morning routine significantly. And so they both left for the dining hall were Kurt quickly scanned the room and spotted Wes and David who were already engrossed n their food and what seemed to be an animated discussion.

"Morning guys!" Brad and Kurt greeted the others after they had gotten their food and took their seats at the table.

"Oh hey! You have impeccable timing. We were just talking about the best excuse for Mr. Thomas' class. Wes forgot his homework again and I think Thomas would buy the old – but very proven 'my dog ate it' line. Don't you agree? I mean I don't think I've ever seen anyone, who was as clueless as him." David snorted.

"Well you have a point, but I think Wes could do better. I mean if he's gonna get in trouble anyways; he might as well make it worth his while with some amazing, epic story. Something about zombies … or zombies that got abducted by aliens and how he had to save the planet."

Kurt looked on amused by Brad's lit up face while he added:

"Or… you know… you could always just finish your assignment. Its 8 am in the morning and isn't Mr. Thomas' class not until like 3?"

"Oh Kurt, you just haven't gotten used to the Dalton way yet. Look at young padawan Brad and all of his constructive ideas" jokingly mocked Wes.

They continued to share more and more fun excuses and Kurt started to get why the truth sometimes just didn't do it, especially with someone like Mr. Thomas who was too slow for his own good most of the times. Conversations with his Dalton friends were always so easy and although he usually wasn't a big fan of mornings he enjoyed this time before classes as a nice and relaxing way to get started – almost as if he'd still be at home, bantering with Finn.

Time always flew by, especially, when he was with his fellow warbler friends and so Kurt wasn't surprised to see that it was almost time to head to his first class - math wasn't his favorite class, not by a long shot, but Wes had been a god sent angel, cause not only did he actually understand what was going on, but in addition to that he was a terrific teacher and Kurt could actually relax while sitting in Mrs. Durham's' class now.

While he was trying to decide if he should get another muffin for later he suddenly spotted Blaine who rushed to the line with, what looked like a very meager breakfast meal. After paying he looked up from his tray and roamed through the room. He stopped when he saw Kurt's tentative smile and small wave before he made a beeline to the table where some of his closest friends were sitting.

The others looked up when Blaine placed his food on the table, hurriedly put down his beat up messenger bag and took a seat.

Kurt noticed for the first time, that Blaine's hair wasn't it usual flawless self but instead seemed a bit uncontrolled and chaotic. It looked as if Blaine had tried to tame his curls but gave up after being only half done. He didn't mind though; he was actually wondering what it would look like, would Blaine decide to not glue it together for once.

"Oh hey buddy! How's it going? I was wondering where you were this morning, since I normally have to literally drag you out of your bed." David finished up his plate and started to pack up his things.

"Morning guys. I had to finish up something in the library and I thought I would have better chances to actually do that when I would beat you to the shower. Morning Kurt" Blaine added with a smile while he heartily bit into his scone.

"Weren't you there just last night to 'finish' something up?"

Wes asked while making his very favorite and oh-so-annoying air quotes, before Kurt even had a chance to reply Blaine's morning greetings.

Blaine's attention shifted back to his two best friends while he looked like he tried to inhale his breakfast and simultaneously taking out a paper out of his bag and starting to reading it over and then answered:

"Yeah Wes, I was. You should know that the Dalton Academy for boys is a very prestigious school that will give us all an excellent chance of a lifetime of a proper education that will bring us very far in life."

Kurt snorted at Blaine's perfected 'dean voice' and his cocky smile but didn't forget that he still hadn't elaborate on whatever he had to do in the library.

"Anyways, as much fun interrogation time with you always is, I really have to go to class now."

And with a look at his watch he added: "And I'm sure you actually should too, right?"

"Not so fast dear sir, you haven't even had any of your juice. Relax for a minute, take a load of; we're not even close to being late. And I hope you know to ask for help when you need it. My genius skills certainly are not limited on Kurt and his horrendous knowledge of the wonders of mathematics."

"I know, I know – you excel in everything you do. You keep reminding me on a regular basis."

While Wes showed him his proudest smile and stuck out his tongue towards Blaine, David settled his hand on Blaine's shoulder to keep him at the table and said quietly:

"No seriously Blaine, let us know if we can do anything to help you. I mean I really don't even know what exactly you've been working on."

Kurt was always amazed by how fast these guys were able to switch moods from silly and sarcastic to serious and heartfelt. With a sigh Blaine collapsed back into his chair. He ran his hand through his hair before he seemed to remember that he shouldn't in order to keep it glued in shape and dropped it back into his lap.

"It's this annoying paper for my world history class. We're doing WW1 and it's supposed to be super long. I mean you know Mr. Andrews – he demands quite a bit. So I've been doing the research or at least was trying to. The books he stated as required reading are taken which meant that I had to track them down in other towns. To be honest Mr. Andrews is an idiot and all of his assignments this semester have been totally fuc.."

"Mr. Anderson!"

Blaine immediately shrank together while Mr. Thomas stopped at their table.

"I'm certain you've been at Dalton long enough to know acceptable behavior?"

"Yes sir, I'm truly sorry."

"Come by my office after class and we'll talk about a suitable punishment. And now, gentlemen, I think it's time for you to go to class."

With a smile he added:

"Oh and I'm looking forward to reading your assignment, Mr. Hunt."

While Mr. Thomas walked away Wes sighed and the boys gave Blaine sympathetic smiles.

Before they could say anything though, Blaine had already gotten up and started to put away his things.

Kurt felt bad for him. He looked tired and a bit run down and he felt bad to just notice Blaine's dull eyes and dark circles under them. He got up and caught up to Blaine.

"Hey Blaine, wait up."

Blaine turned around and expectantly looked up to Kurt.

"I was wondering if you'd like to meet me later so we can study together. At least you wouldn't be by yourself and who knows… maybe I'll surprise you with my vast knowledge of all world wars…"

Blaine had to laugh at that and showed a true smile – the first one today, Kurt noted.

"Sure… that would be very nice actually. I'll let you know once I've been to Mr. Thomas' office."

They both met up with the others in the hallway and made their way to their respective classrooms.

Blaine ended up by himself in his French class - most of the times he regretted to not have taken Spanish like most of his friends, but today he truly welcomed it.

He took his seat in the very back of the room and slumped down in his chair trying to hide from his teacher and hopefully most of his fellow students. French came easy to him, so he cherished this time to relax and hang back before the rest of his crazy day would be crashing down on him.

Blaine let his hands run through his hair as he tried to get rid of the oncoming headache he had been feeling since the night before when he was sitting in the abandoned library trying to get his facts for that ridiculous assignment together.

He knew he always had some difficulties dealing with stress at Dalton. It wasn't like he was a bad student or that he wasn't studying throughout the school year… he sometimes just felt like there was too much weight on his shoulders and usually around final time it seemed to get to him. But since this happened on a very regular basis, he didn't worry about it. In fact he wanted his friends to not worry about it either. He sure knew about his weaknesses better than anyone and he knew that he just had to work through these couple of weeks and he'd be just fine. Just like always.

And now there was Kurt. Sweet, troubled and adorable Kurt who probably would worry ten times more than Wes and David, if that was even possible. Blaine was looking forward to spending some time with him later though. Kurt was always such great company and he loved how hanging out with him seemed to make Kurt better, stronger and at times even forget about his awful past at his old school. Now he would just have to convince one more person that he was doing ok.

Unfortunately time flew by and soon Blaine had to leave his momentary sanctuary and face the evil world – or social studies. He met up with David who was waiting for him by the door.

"Hey. How did French go? Did you miss us like always? Crying just a little bit, about how much you want to be like the cool kids and take Spanish?"

"Yeah, yeah… something like that."

Blaine's headache hadn't eased a bit and it was starting to take a toll on him. Of course that didn't go unnoticed by his best friend. And since they were such good friends, he also knew how much Blaine hated it to have a bunch of mother hens around him; especially during warbler meetings and other events where they would all get together. So instead of pissing him off before the Warblers were even involved he decided to slide some ibuprofen over his desk that he always carried on him. Migraines made sure he never forgot to restock.

Blaine gave him a thankful and maybe a bit relieved smile before taking them dry.

The rest of the morning went by in a blur and the guys found each other back in the dining hall.

"Where's Blaine?" Wes asked David upon his arrival to their usual table.

"He didn't want lunch. I think he went to lie down."

Kurt was busy loading up his tray and didn't see the worried look that Wes gave David but said instead:

"Ah, that's too bad. I have a free period after lunch – I can just bring something over to him and make sure he's alright before I have to get to my next class."

"I think that would be great Kurt! I'm sure he'll particularly like having you around" David snorted at Wes cheeky expression and trotted over to a free table.

Kurt made sure to get some of everything, especially some fruit, bread and juice. He wasn't sure what exactly was wrong with Blaine, but he thought that he'd be able to pick something he'd like.

Back to their table Kurt greeted some other Warblers and joined his friends for lunch. When Brad arrived a couple minutes later they started to talk vividly about the upcoming Warbler practice and their ideas for songs and solos. He didn't notice how quite his two other friends had gotten and their silence was only broken a few times, when they softly whispered to each other.

The dining hall slowly cleared out and Brad suddenly realized he was running late for an appointment he had with one of his teachers. While he scrambled out of the room Kurt waved the others good bye and made his way to the dorms and to Blaine.


	2. Chapter 2

_First of all : Thank you all for the many alerts, reviews and nice comments. It was very, very encouraging to hear people actually like what I write.  
I know my updates are pretty slow, and I'm afraid it might stay like that for a while, but I will do my very best to be faster next time. I feel like this chapter is really slow and not a whole lot happens - I haven't decided wether I like this or not. I do have things planned out though... but if you feel like this is moving along way too slow, let me know and I'll try to speed it up.  
_

_Little reminders: Still not a native speaker, commas still hate me and I still do not own Glee._

_

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Blaine made it through social studies – barely. Not only was the class horribly boring and the teacher lousy at her job, he also had to endure the worried looks David shot him every time he dared to rub his eyes or do anything else that would suggest feeling unwell.

So the minute the class was over he sighed loudly and got up; maybe a bit fast cause he definitely didn't remember the floor moving around that much before. He got it under control quickly with a deep breath and made his way through all the other students trying to make it out of the room and to lunch. Just outside he turned to David and said:

"I think I'll skip lunch today. I'm still full from breakfast and have stuff to do… you know…"

"Yeah Blaine I do know. I know that what you had for breakfast doesn't really qualify for food and I know that you're dead tired and probably have a headache."

And with a tired sigh he added:

"And I really wish you'd trust me enough to just tell me the truth every once in a while. You know, you don't have to…"

Before he could finish Blaine interrupted:

"You're right David, I'm sorry… I am a bit tired and just wanted to lie down for a while. You should go ahead though, you know how fast they run out of pizza and how that would destroy your whole day."

David gave up for now and waved Blaine goodbye, who was already starting to walk the other way and towards the dorms.

"I'll see you later at practice then. Take it easy."

And with that he left for lunch and to meet his other friends. His thoughts stayed with Blaine though. David couldn't shake the feeling, that he should do something – he wasn't sure what, yet, but he'd think about it.

Blaine finally made it to his (and David's) room. He quickly opened the door, threw his bag in the next corner and practically fell onto his bed. He didn't even bother taking of his shoes or uniform, but just crawled under his blanket and hugged his pillow to his chest, heaving a big sigh.

He tried to listen to his body and figuring out what exactly was going on. He didn't really feel sick – didn't have a stuffy nose or any sign of an oncoming cough, nothing that would hint to the common cold. There was just this unrelenting pounding in his head and this extreme exhaustion.

Man, he was tired! He checked his watch and decided that he could in fact take a nap; it had to be short but he could sleep just for a little while. He set his alarm and attempted to get comfortable. It didn't take long for him to fall asleep. When his alarm clock went off about thirty minutes later, he

was just about to throw it across the room and against the nearest wall, when he heard a hesitant knock on the door. Blaine sat up slowly, still half asleep and not quite there and said:

"Yeah?"

"Blaine? It's me. It's Kurt… can I come in?"

Blaine took a deep breath and swung his legs over his bed until he was in a regular sitting position before he told Kurt to come in.

What Kurt saw, when he stepped into the room warmed his heart. There was Blaine who clearly had just woken up, with the worst bed head imaginable and his blanket thrown around his shoulders.

"Hey you. How are you feeling? I brought you some lunch in case you are hungry."

"Thanks Kurt. That's too nice of you. Come on in, I don't bite"

Kurt stepped into the room and set the plate he had brought onto Blaine's desk. When Blaine patted the space next to him, Kurt blushed just a little and sat down. Before he could say anything, Blaine beat him to it.

"So, how has your day been so far? I'm sorry I wasn't in a great mood this morning and I feel like I haven't really talked to you – so I'm sorry."

"Wait… what? It's ok you know…I understand when you're not on the top of your game every day. So don't worry about. I think the others were worried about you though… so…how are you? I'm sure they will interview me the minute I step out of this room."

"Ah yeah… I'm sorry about those two, too." Blaine chuckled. "They can get a bit extreme sometimes. But there's nothing to worry about. I'm totally fine. Every once in a while I get a little headache but then I just sleep it off and I'm good again. So… if you wouldn't mind, just tell them that I am my very fabulous self."

"And your humble self, of course?" Kurt snorted.

"Of course!"

Blaine smiled that smile then; the one that made Kurt forget why he even came over or what he had to do next. That smile that made him fall in love with him right from the start.

While he was lost in thought for a few seconds, Blaine got up and went to his desk to at least pretend to be eating something. He was relieved to see no greasy pizza or something else that probably would have made him gag, but some fresh fruit and a piece of lightly buttered bread. Walking back to his bed he asked:

"Back to my original question. How was your day? Anything exciting going on? Any warblers getting in trouble? … well besides me, I guess?"

Kurt laughed at that and leaned back against the headboard. Blaine really did seem better. He was eating and chatting away just like he usually would. He might have been a bit paler but Kurt didn't think that would be enough to freak out about. Wes and David were apparently two big drama queens.

"Well, let's see… All my classes were fine. Studying with Wes really helped a lot and for the first time I actually think I might be able to catch up to the rest of you guys. Oh and then, right before lunch, after my French class Mr. Walden asked me if I could come to his office later today. He wanted to ask me to join some club. It was a bit strange… he insisted that I would be just perfect. Please tell me, you have some idea what he was talking about!"

Blaine laughed loudly at that. He had finished his fruit and gave up on his bread after being half way done. His head was still hurting a bit and he was happy to be able to rest it on his pillow while leaning against the wall next to his bed.

"Aaah, young seems to be Dalton's new golden boy!  
But don't you worry, it's nothing too strange …. is doing the drama club. I heard they were planning on some new production and were getting ready for the general casting. I don't think I've ever heard about him approaching students like that though. You must have impressed him."

"Drama, huh? That's kinda cool, I guess. Well… maybe I can join and be awesome and he'll let me skip class every once in a while. Might as well milk my fame!"

"That's my boy!"

They debated a bit on which play they thought Mr. Walden would do and which parts were just screaming Kurt's name, before Kurt noticed that time had flown by again and that it was time for him to go to his next class.

"Alright, well – I'll be happy to tell the others that you had lunch and didn't collapse or faint. And I'll make sure to report about my introduction to stardom later. Ah, never mind, we'll see each other at warbler practice right?"

"Ah, yeah – right. I'll be there. Have fun at class and thanks again for bringing me lunch."

"No problem. It was my pleasure, really. See you later Blaine!" Kurt smiled and let his hand brush Blaine's arm. While he left and started to walk to his class he thought about their friendship and how important the other boy was to him. He made him feel good, feel like he could be just himself. He was so thankful to have him in his life.

After Kurt had closed the door, Blaine collapsed back onto his bed. Keeping up appearances was hard work. It also didn't do his exhaustion any good and when he realized that he hadn't actually done any work since he had decided to skip lunch he panicked for a minute. He got back up, sat at his desk and began rummaging through millions and millions of sheet flying around. He would have another hour to research…or do his French homework…or math… or all those other things and before he'd have practice, which he promised Kurt he'd go to.

His hands were a little shaky when he picked up his pen to take notes, but he didn't worry about it. It was just that damn lack of sleep and he would make sure to deal with that maybe even tonight. But first he had to do work and lots of it.

While the actual Warbler practice was always super organized and structured the minutes before, when everyone was still coming in and getting ready, was not. Instead they all were a bunch of rowdy boys, usually way too loud and hyper. After a whole day of classes and pretty serious teachers, practice was the first time to let loose and really talk to each other.  
Everyone was talking about their tests, assignments and their general stress. Once more Kurt felt affirmed, that he wasn't alone, but that everyone was going through the same thing.  
But even though everyone was busy, almost never did it happen that people would skip practice. They all cherished their time together as sort of a breather from their daily routine. When Kurt would come into the room every other day, he always had to smile. The Warblers might have not been the same tight knit group than New Directions were, but they were close. People were always excited to see and speak to him and that made Kurt feel special. This time was no different when he had to high five (who still does that, really?) at least three people, before he even made it to Wes and David. He hadn't had a chance to see either of the two after he had seen Blaine, and he wanted to make sure they knew that he was just fine, before they would jump on the other boy the minute he would walk in.

David and Wes were expecting him with worried faces.

"Hey Kurt, how did it go? Did he eat?" David started before Wes continued:

"Do you know if he slept at all? How's the headache?"

Kurt noticed that not only were the two boys in front of him freaking out, a few other Warblers seemed to listen attentively too.

"Will you settle down, please? You're kinda making a big deal out of nothing. Blaine's fine. He ate lunch and yes, he had slept before I came in. We talked a bit and he was good. Nothing to worry about. He is just as stressed as everyone else." He added a stern look to Wes and David and the others around them.  
"Really you guys, you should focus about school and not obsess about Blaine."

This seemed to convince the few people listening in, but not Wes and David. Wes in particular looked frustrated and like he wanted to retort, but David settled his hand on his arm discreetly, which helped him settle down.  
Kurt had been busy making himself comfortable and being careful not to wrinkle his uniform, more than absolutely necessary, but looked up curiously when Wes and David joined the others at the desk up front composing themselves, since they were part of the council.

"Ok guys… let's get started. Is everyone present?" John, a redheaded councilmember with millions of freckles, asked while looking around the room.

While the boys looked around and checked to see if everyone was there, David mumbled something and John gave a curt nod.

"It seems like, we're just waiting for Blaine. But that's fine. We have to talk about our last show anyways. I brought the recording and we're going to watch it and debrief, before we'll focus on the new songs."

Debriefing was everyone's least favorite part of practice. John always insisted on it though, which meant that the rest of the group were gathering around a TV set, although only grudgingly, ready to face boredom.

Just when they were about to finish watching their set for the second time, Blaine came through the door. Kurt looked up to him and expected a bright smile – the same he would get at every practice.

But Blaine looked flushed and sweaty when he walked up to the desk right away and mumbled an apology to the council members. Kurt watched on as they exchanged some words and Blaine repeatedly nodded his head, while David kept on talking to him. Kurt moved around to face the screen again, when their conversation ended and Blaine made his way to sit down somewhere close to him.  
John was stopping the video and started talking about their stage presence and the backup vocals. Everyone was, at least somewhat, listening and Wes used this moment to stare at Blaine. He noticed how he tried to wipe his face with his dress shirt, looking uncomfortable and not himself. Once Blaine apparently thought he couldn't do better with his current look, Blaine looked for Kurt and gave him a bright smile.

"What a faker!" Wes muttered under his breath.

"We'll talk to him later. There's nothing we can do now, Wes." David had leant towards him and once again succeeded in calming him down.

They all finally payed attention again, when John finished his little monologue and they started talking about new song ideas and general opinions about their next shows.

A bunch of freshmen and kids that had transferred to Dalton and were sticking together, because of it, raised their hands and one of them, the only one usually not afraid to talk to some of the older boys, stood up and approached the rest of the Warblers.

"Ehm… I…well …we had an idea about a new song and we thought you guys might consider it, since we don't have our next program mapped out yet."

"Hey that's great Dylan. Go ahead – what have you been thinking of." David reassured the group of younger boys.

This seemed to loosen up the others and they all looked on excitedly when they took turns describing their song ideas.

The last one seemed to be their favorite and the council was surprised to see them actually turning towards Blaine, who jerked up, when he heard his name.

"Huh? I'm so sorry Dylan, what were you saying?"

"Blaine… we really want to do Mr. Brightside by the Killers. It could be such a great arrangement and you would be perfect for the lead. I know you already have a solo, but this is just perfect. Don't you think?"

"Well…" Blaine tried to think of a way to let them down softly. He really didn't want yet another task to worry about and besides taking another lead, the arrangement would need a lot of work and he knew that probably would fall back onto him, once the younger boys would realize how much time it would need. He noticed then, how everyone was looking to him expectantly and excited. They mumbled about what a great addition the song would make and how Blaine's voice would fit perfectly.

David noticed Blaine's dilemma and tried to step in.

"You guys… that's a really great idea, and yes – Blaine's voice would be great. However he already has one solo and we need to spread the love. Everyone should at least have a chance to audition, don't you agree? Or what about your other ideas. I liked the Lifehouse song…"

Blaine gave him a relieved smile, but dropped it immediately when the noise of the group rose and Dylan was now actually backed up by a bunch of other older Warblers.

"David… we all seem to agree that we don't mind Blaine having another solo. He's awesome and we should use his skills as much as possible. And for the song choice… those guys are right. We need a wider range. It's not only pop music, but has a different twist about it. It could be great Warbler tune. We should do it."

The others seemed to agree and Wes shrugged defeated when David looked over to him.

"Well Blaine, what do you think? Do you want to do it? It's ok when you don't. I'm sure we could agree on someone else" David tried to give Blaine a last way out of the solo, but at the same time knew that he wouldn't take it. Not when there was a whole room expecting something else from him. And especially not, when Kurt was smiling over to him, nodding his head, encouraging him to take it.

Blaine sat up and answered:

"Alright guys… I'll do it."  
Everyone around him cheered and Dylan actually came over, shaking his hand excitedly.

"Oh, that's so great Blaine. Thank you. We have so many ideas for the arrangement. Can we meet and discuss them with you? How about later tonight, or tomorrow before classes?"

Blaine was overwhelmed by the boy's excitement and tried to remember how he had felt, when his first idea was accepted by the council. Probably just as on top of the world as Dylan and the others were right now.

"Sure Dylan, we can do that. I'm not sure about tonight though – I have to go see a teacher of mine. So let's do tomorrow morning. "

"Awesome. How about … maybe 7:30 before breakfast? Does that work for everyone?"

The younger kids around him nodded eagerly and Blaine swallowed visibly.

"Uh…yeah. Alright, let's do 7:30 then."

People were patting him on his back and trying to high five him, before he slumped back into his chair and the conversation moved on.

Kurt gave him a little thumps up, when he looked over to the beautiful boy, which made him force a smile back onto his face.

After they had sung some songs and parted afterwards, David and Wes walked over to Blaine while he packed his messenger bag.

"Blaine…" David began.

"Don't worry David; I'll make sure they won't wake you up in the morning. We'll meet in the choir room." He started to walk towards the door and added

"Sorry guys. Would love to chat with you, but I have to see a certain teacher now, before he decides to expel me or something."

"I sure wasn't worried about you waking me up…" was the last thing Blaine heard of David, before he made his way out of the choir room and towards ' office.


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: Ok… it has been a while – and I'm super sorry. But here's the deal: this is my first published fanfic and apparently I had lots and lots to learn. Writing a work in progress is even more frustrating than reading one and there were times, when I really wanted to write but just couldn't find the time. So as a peace offer I have this: the story is almost done. I have about 35 pages written and I will post frequently. Sorry… I didn't decide on this option before posting the first two chapters. But it's a learning experience, that's for sure. I hope you enjoy the story. Reviews would be nice if you do. And don't hold back with criticism.  
Still don't own anything…. And: English is not my first language, so there definitely will be plenty of mistakes I didn't catch. Sorry about that._

Neither Wes nor David saw Blaine after his meeting with the teacher and both were hoping to be able to talk to him during dinner and before everyone would disappear into their respective rooms. They were planning on having a real talk this time. No excuses to get away or other people interrupting. They just had to find a suitable time.

But Blaine disappearing didn't really fit into their plan.

The next opportunity to find him would be during dinner. They both had different club meetings that night, which meant they would have to wait til later if he wouldn't show up now.

The only one they did see, once they made it into the extensive dining hall, was Kurt, who was seated next to a bunch of other Warblers.

„Hey guys. How's dinner? "Wes asked.

„Meh… a gourmet kitchen Dalton sure lacks. Same old, same old really. "

A boy named Brice answered, gesturing towards his plate full of an indefinable blob of pasta and sauce.

„Alright… well, not much we can do about it, I guess. David, want me to bring you a plate? "

„Oh yeah, thanks man. And a coke, if you don't mind. "

„Sure thing. " Wes mumbled while trotting away to stand in line.

„Has anyone seen Blaine since his meeting with Mr. Thomas ?"

„Yeah, he left maybe 15 minutes ago. Thomas has him tutor the new kid who transferred cause his parents moved here from Europe. Army brat, I think. Blaine said he's behind on most of the reading material, which means lots of additional tutoring. I'm sure you can guess how very not amused he was. "Brice answered.

„Yeah – I can imagine. Man, that kid never catches a break now, does he? Is the new dude nice at least and not too much of an idiot?

„He seemed alright... just a bit annoyed by the whole situation. Not his first move, you know. I just hope he won't use Blaine to get rid of his pent up frustration." Kurt added. " He did rush him out of the dining hall pretty quickly though. "

David sighed at that. This would probably make it even harder to catch Blaine alone and willing to talk then before.

„Kurt, are you guys still planning on hanging out tonight or did he cancel for the new guy? And what's his name anyways? "

„Jacques, I think. His mom is French – and he made sure that we would not call him Jack…like ever. But yes, Blaine and I are still meeting later, at least to my knowledge. I hope I'll be able to help him with his history and maybe some French… though Jacques may be more suitable for that now. "

Kurt frowned, which made the rest of the Warblers around him smile and some even laugh out loud.  
Wes who just made it to his seat with his food responded:

„Oh young Kurt, believe me –he'd rather listen to you speaking French to him all night or study some other „French" then win in the lottery!"

There were some giggles to be heard while Kurt blushed a dark red and mumbled under his breath

„I don't even know what you could possibly be talking about. "

„Oh don't we know! But I really wish you both would just Stop being so damn clueless. "

Wes snickered and dug into his spaghetti or lasagna or whatever else he had sitting in front of him, while everyone nodded excitedly.

„Well, I have you know that we're just friends- Good friends of course – but just friends. But thank you for the much appreciated interest. You can stop with that anytime though..."

Kurt ended while folding his arms in front of his chest and one eyebrow way up on his forehead.

„Ha ha…. alright, alright - everyone, settle down. " David – always the mediator butted in.

They finished dinner in relative peace and dispersed soon afterwards, Kurt went to his room to add his finishing touches to his room and light a scented candle before Blaine would make it over to study. He had seen how Blaine, once again, only had very little to eat, so he had brought back some pastries which he arranged on his nightstand.

Meanwhile, Wes and David were wandering around campus for a last minute chance to chat with their best friend. None of them was lucky though. Blaine was not to be found in the choir room, the library or even his dorm. They gave up for now, deciding on sticking to their original plan.

Blaine was busy.

No – scratch that. Being busy was the understatement of the year. With his new tutoring duties, plus the arrangement to think about and his usual school work and finals he didn't even have a minute for himself. Unless in the restroom.

Which is where he found himself around seven, trying to calm down. He once had found a pretty deserted restroom in the basement, where he never saw anyone once classes were over for the day. H e had used it during his first months at Dalton, when he couldn't handle his homesickness and needed somewhere to cry to himself without worrying about random roommates or Warblers barging in.

He had finally gotten rid of Jacques, when he told him that spending four hours with him was more than enough for the first day and that he would see him in the morning during breakfast. Jacques was nice alright, but also kinda frustrating. He seemed to have trouble deciding whether he should be annoyed to hell by yet another new school or his need to make new friends, starting with Blaine.

In the end that meant, he would cling to Blaine while also being moody as hell.

Blaine would just have to deal with that he decided. Soon Jacques would make new friends who then, would teach him about Dalton and hopefully also about classic American literature.

For now though, Blaine was sitting on the floor leaning against the furthest wall, just trying to collect himself.  
He was aware of the irony of his situation. Being a huge Harry Potter fan he sometimes hoped Myrtle would show up and brighten his day.

She didn't though, and so he crammed his books and loose paper into his bag, checked himself in the mirror and left his sanctuary to do….some more studying. At least it wasn't studying – this would be studying with Kurt.

He loved spending time with him and not seldomly hoped for more than what they had for now. He had decided that any advances would have to wait for a while, until he felt like Kurt was comfortable at Dalton and not still suffering from some sort of aftermath created by McKinley's very own Karofsky. He wanted whatever he had with Kurt to develop; to be natural and not something that automatically had to happen, because they both happened to be gay. No – he would wait until he was sure that Kurt genuinely was ready to be with someone.

That didn't mean he couldn't be excited about spending time with him - even if it was only to study. Today though, he was longing for his bed; for some sleep and maybe some relaxing music. But He could never ditch Kurt and he knew just being in his presence would make him feel better maybe even get rid of his headache. He would just have to make sure to get a convincing smile onto his face and be his chipper self. Blaine did not want yet another worried friend.


	4. Chapter 4

When Kurt led him into his room he was engulfed by a pleasant smell and Kurt's beautiful smile.

"Hey ... I was wondering if you forgot about our study date or if Jacques held you hostage."

Blaine felt himself relax instantly. Just one sentence by him made him feel safe and like himself again. He gave Kurt his first honest smile of the day.

"Oh I'm sure he thought about that actually. I think he considers asking the dean to make him my roommate. I tried to explain to him that I was already living with David, but he didn't really seem to care too much. Just what I need –my very own stalker… well, thinking about it, I'd probably be his slave or something."

Kurt giggled and dragged Blaine by his sleeve to come into his room,

"Here take a seat; I stole a few muffins for you and your favorite kind of doughnut. You must be starving."

"Kurt – you're amazing!" He just couldn't stop himself. But the younger boy looked amazing  
and his eyes shined brightly, plus: he was moved by Kurt's actions and it didn't hurt that Kurt was even cuter when he blushed.

"Oh, it's not a big deal, really. Nothing compared to what you've been doing these past months, driving back and forth between Dalton and Lima."

They settled in rather quickly. Both of them spreading out on the floor and all over Kurt's bed. Bradley was busy himself preparing a presentation with a classmate, which meant they had the room for themselves.

They started on history and continued on with French. Kurt decided that Blaine was actually pretty good picking up new information quickly and being able to use it appropriately, but he also noticed how the answers came slower with every question and how he kept running his hands through his hair, producing more and more curls with every time.

The paper Blaine had to finish really did seem extensive. He knew about Dalton's high expectations, but this was more than he had seen so far. Kurt got why Blaine was stressed about it and felt bad for him.

He tried t help him with his structure and finding the right information on the internet but he knew that he couldn't help with the actual writing part of it.

They made progress though and Blaine seemed pleased to close his French book. Being done with yet another assignment and feeling good about his preparation for the upcoming test.

He sighed contently, propping his chin onto his hands while lying on the floor looking up towards Kurt on the bed.

"Thank you Kurt. This was really great. You know how I have all those to-do-lists on my door? Tonight I'll be able to cross of French. Just because of you."

"Well I'm just that great. But seriously, Blaine, it's not a big deal. I had to study anyways and its mote fun together. Now that we're done, would you want to watch a movie? I have all your favorites! How about some Disney?"

Blaine's face lit up at that.

"Lion King?"

Kurt answered with turning on his TV and starting a DVD that had already been waiting to be used.

"You're too easy sometimes! Come on up, make yourself comfortable."

The boys began the movie and soon enough Blaine's head rested on Kurt's shoulder. The younger boy was glad he didn't have to focus on the story, since he knew almost all of the dialogue by heart anyways, and could instead enjoy Blaine's presence, his gorgeous curly hair and smooth skin – so very close. Only when Timon and Pumba started their song and Blaine didn't sing along Kurt noticed his even breathing and lax posture.

Kurt's heart swelled with love at this and he tried to decide what to do next. He'd love to just stay the ways they were, cuddled together, until the morning. But he knew that the last thing he and especially Blaine needed was another punishment and missing curfew was quite a big deal at Dalton. He decided it would be best for Blaine, but not for himself, to go back to his own room and hopefully catch a good night sleep. Kurt gave himself another ten minutes to enjoy having Blaine so close before he started running his hands over Blaine's arms.

"Hey, sleepy head" he started softly "It's getting late and you need to go back to your room."

Kurt wasn't surprised to see Blaine barely acknowledging him, as he had found out that he was a horrible morning person during his first week at Dalton.

He continued the rubbing motion on Blaine's arms and chest, smiling at Blaine's content sighs.

"Blaine… it's time to get up." He tried again.

At this the older boy started to wake up slowly, squinting his eyes at the bright light above their heads and making beautiful sleepy noises.

"Hey… "He said hoarsely "What time is it?"

"It's ten. You didn't even make it to the big showdown."

"I'm sorry... that was kinda rude. Guess I was more tired than I thought. I probably should head over now."

Blaine pulled himself up with a groan, immediately missing the other boy's warmth surrounding him.

"Thanks for everything again, Kurt. I'll make it up to you."

"There truly is no need for that. Let me know when I can help you with your French again."

Blaine raised an eyebrow and once again enjoyed watching Kurt blush.

"I… uh… you know what I mean." He stammered embarrassed.

Blaine decided to let him off the hook.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I'd love that and I'll let you know. For now though, I'll be happy to cross it off my list."

With that Blaine gathered his things and before his hand opened the door he went back towards Kurt and gave him a big hug.

"Thank you Kurt. Really - I mean it." He whispered into the other boy's hair before he left the room.

Kurt was a little stunned and didn't even have a chance to reply. He fell back against the wall with a content smile and felt a moment of pure bliss. His life really had turned to the better.


	5. Chapter 5

_A/N: I'm not sure if anyone is reading this really, cause I didn't get any reviews since the first chapter...so I'll just post away. _

Hope you like it :)

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Wes and David were running late.

Not only did both their clubs (fencing and improve theatre) start late, they both were asked to stay later by their instructors. They could be handful, everyone knew that, but they were respected and well liked students that were always absolutely engaged with whatever they were doing.

This also meant that they were the first to be asked for favors by teachers and their peers. Usually they didn't mind, but today they both arrived flustered and breathless at David's room.

"Oh man… I'm so sorry. I had to stay late. There's this school tournament thing…"

Wes started but was interrupted halfway through his sentence by David.

"I'm sorry too. We ran late …again. It's kinda starting to become the norm. So much for our talk."

"Well let's see if he's even here and then we'll decide if we have to search through every corner of Dalton."

When David opened the door and was greeted by darkness he sighed, thinking how not fun it would be to have to look for Blaine while also trying not to get caught. But Wes lightly touched his arm and gestured towards the other side of the room, where a huddled form breathed evenly into the darkness.

"Guess we were a bit late… and also worried for no reason. At least he's sleeping and we don't have to drag his sorry ass out of the library." Wes whispered and added "Good night dude. See you both in the morning."

With that the door closed and David got ready for bed, trying to be as quiet as humanly possible. Once he got settled he glanced over to Blaine again and turned off his nightlight.

David was confused. Somehow he found himself n this odd state between sleep and being awake and tried desperately to just fall back to sleep to finish that awesome dream he had. But there was this annoying clicking sound that just would not stop. Trying to decide how he knew where it was coming from didn't loll him back to sleep, but woke him up instead.

He opened his eyes slowly and was surprised to see a faint bluish glow from across the room. Turning his head slowly, he saw Blaine sitting at his desk typing away on his computer on which he had turned down the brightness as far as possible, so he wouldn't disturb his roommate, for sure straining his eyes instead.

"Well thanks for that" David thought to himself. He considered how to approach his friend but decided for the blunt way since it was… freaking 4 AM!

"Blaine! What are you doing up?" David noticed, just a little satisfied, how he had startled him.

"I...uh... I'm sorry. I'll be quiet. Go back to sleep."

"What the hell are you doing on your computer at four in the morning?"

"There was just… some stuff… I had to finish. I'm sorry for waking you. I didn't mean to. Really… I… well I'm done for now."

He turned off his computer, which made it impossible for David to continue glaring at Blaine. He heard him settling in his bed and the rustle of his blanket.

"Blaine…" he started a little calmer this time.

"It's ok. Just go back to sleep. I'm sorry."

Came the whispered reply from across the room.

David decided to let it go for now, since he could barely keep his eyes open. He fell asleep soon and wasn't woken up again until his alarm rang around 7:45. Blaine was already gone, he noticed with a worried sigh as he got ready for classes.

Blaine's day had started early. The few hours of sleep he had gotten after working on his calculus assignment didn't really do anything to help with his exhaustion and he realized that he was wrong when he had thought that because he went to bed so early it would be fine to get up early and do more work. His body had a different opinion it seemed and he literally had to drag himself out of bed.

Brushing his teeth was kinda hard, because his hand kept shaking. The bathroom was freezing, so he piled layers over layers until he was sure he wouldn't suffer from frostbite. He tried to be as quiet as possible, so to not wake up David again. He felt bad about last night. _Should have gone to the library instead_ he thought while sneaking out of his room to meet up with Dylan and the others in the choir room.

The younger boys were already awaiting him eagerly. Before them, they had lots and lots of sheet music and they were smiling expectantly towards Blaine when he made it through the doors.

_There goes my chance of them calming down … with all that paper they must have been planning this for ages! _He thought to himself.

"Hey Blaine! Good Morning. Thank you sooo much again… really…we all really appreciate it. Of course we know, you didn't have to, since you're the lead vocalist and all that and we're just a bunch of newbies." Dylan kept rambling on.

"Calm down!" Blaine laughed.

"How about we just start with you showing me what you have so far and then we'll go from there."

The boys all started to talk at once, loving to be able to show their creative abilities to someone like Blaine. It took a while for him to get them in order and actually find out, that although they had tried, none of their arrangements would work.

None of them had ever attempted to get something together for an acapella group as big as the Warblers and Blaine noticed how disappointed they started to get, as they saw their dream performance disappear in front of their eyes.

"Now, now… it's nothing we can't fix. It'll just take a while. But it'll be alright. We'll get it done before the competition.

Let's see… we'll do the beginning together and then, once you get the hang of it, you do the rest in teams."

Everyone agreed and they kept working on their song until it was time for breakfast.

Just as Blaine was about to leave the room David entered and closed the door behind him.

"I need to talk to you."

"Look David, I'm sorry about last night and it…"

"Not right now. I need to talk to you later. Actually Wes and I both do. And you are going to make time for us. We don't have practice tonight, so I expect to see you in our room at 3:30. Ok?"

"Seriously, aren't you..." Blaine started to disagree.

"3:30. You will be there."

"Yeah. Alright. I will." He gave in, when he saw David's determined look.

"Great...then let's go have breakfast. I'm starving. "

David slung his arm around Blaine's shoulders and led him to get to the dining hall.

"Oh hey, I almost forgot. What about Jacques? Did you have to pick him up or something? Maybe draw a map for him?"

"Oh you're so funny. No – it's fine. I told him I'd meet him during breakfast and make sure to walk him to his classes.

"You could always just have him join our table. Who knows, maybe he is an awesome singer and want to audition for the Warblers."

"Nu uh! I will not have him join my only Jacques-free-zone. And you better make sure neither you nor Wes will either. You might have to suffer a slow and very painful death if you don't."

"Alright, alright. You got it. And there he is already – seemingly awaiting your arrival."  
David pointed towards Jacques, who was sitting by himself in a corner, avoiding everyone around him with an arrogant smirk.

"Awesome... just great. And here I thought he might have made some friends or something."

David gave Blaine an encouraging squeeze on the shoulder and watched him trot towards the other boy. Deciding he couldn't do anything for now, he joined the others at their usual table.


	6. Chapter 6

_A/N: Thank you for all those alerts, friends! I guess there really are people reading this. :) Pretty awesome...!_

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"Morning, Jacques. How was your first night at Dalton?"

"Well Blaine, since I've been waiting for you for more than 15 minutes, I wouldn't really call this a good morning. But anyways… my night was just fine. Not sure about my roommate though. I don't understand how we are not offered single rooms for that horrendous tuition."

"Some people think it's a good thing to live in a more social environment. And having a roommate qualifies as that. Have you had anything to eat while I kept you waiting?"

Blaine glanced over to his friends, hoping to be able to sit down for a while and catch up.

"Yes indeed, I have. And I was hoping we could wrap this up quickly. I need you to show me to the library. I have things to do, you know."

"Oh I'm sure you do. Let me just grab something to eat and then I'll drop you off."

"Aren't you going to stay and show me to my class afterwards? I sure don't want to get lost on my first day."

"…. Fine. Yeah, I will. Will you hold on for a second please? I'll be right back."

"Man, it looks like that dude is one annoying brat." Wes pointed out after watching their encounter from their table.

"Yeah…he does."

David worriedly watched Blaine as he walked through the dining hall and towards something edible. When his roommate looked up from the floor and in their direction he waved and smiled at him, which Blaine returned.

"I told him to meet us later. I think he got that I was serious."

"Ok cool. Maybe we'll get through to him. At least a little."

Soon Blaine disappeared with Jacques and Kurt joined them before classes. He was jubilant almost jumping up and down when he arrived.

"Hey guys… Amazing morning to you! Isn't it beautiful outside? The birds are singing and the flowers are starting to come out. Ah – how I love spring,"

"It's still only February, you know - and I highly doubt you can really see any flowers. I mean with all that ice still everywhere."

Wes started, but when Kurt shot him a questioning (or maybe threatening) look he added:

"But it is pretty awesome that you're in such a good mood. How did that happen? Scored a fun concert ticket or something? VIP seats for Lady Gaga?"

"Nothing like that. I just have these moments sometimes, when I realize that life is good. I think I got used to being constantly scared or worried that I forgot how that feels like. I mean, just you guys being here this morning or Blaine last night – it's just really great. And a couple minutes ago Mr. Walden told me that they're doing 'A midsummer night's dream' and that he wants me to play Puck. I don't even have to audition for it. Plus: He's planning on adding songs and all that. Dalton really does have its perks, not being worried about a bunch of boys singing and dancing on stage like that."

"Congrats Kurt. That's awesome."

Both, David and Wes, responded.

Kurt really had come a long way. From that new kid, who had a hard time adapting and missing his family to this Kurt – integrated with the Warblers, missed and often visited by his old and cherished by his new friends, and apparently now even sought after actor.

Kurt was on top of the world.

He couldn't believe his luck when had approached him in the hallway, handed him his script and welcomed him on board. Life was coming together and he loved it.

Great friends, a healthy family at home and success with pretty much everything he believed in. He couldn't even really bother that it wasn't Blaine who heard the news first, because he was busy chaperoning Jacques. He would just find him later. And he did – sometime in between classes.

Blaine had just dropped the new boy off and was rushing to his next class, when Kurt caught up with him. He shared the excitement over the play and especially his part and offered to study lines with him, whenever Kurt felt it necessary.

"That's the least I can do, after all your help last night." Blaine smiled at him, before they separated for class.

Classes went by in rush for Blaine.

Between every class he had to make sure to pick up and drop off Jacques who refused to even try to find his own way around the school. Letting him know, that he had plans in the afternoon didn't go over that well either and so he had stomped off with a huff.

Blaine felt weird.

With being so busy all day he didn't realize how tired he still was, but now, walking to the dorms he felt like he somehow hit an invisible brick wall of exhaustion.

Maybe Wes and David would go easy on him and he would have a chance to take a nap. Or maybe eat some fruit or drink a gallon of water – all those things that are supposed to be healthy and helpful to a good or at least working immune system. Although the sun had started to come out, he was cold. Freezing cold actually. He was already looking forward to that super comfy blanket his grandmother had mailed to him for Christmas.

With everything going on Blaine had trouble winding down. His mind was constantly occupied with various tasks, to-do-lists and Warbler duties; and it was hard to file everything away for later, when deadlines were coming up and time was running out. At least he would get a break from Jacques – even if it was just for a few hours.

The other boy had been demanding and downright annoying and he was seriously lacking on the social skills area. Blaine would have to meet up with him later for some actual tutoring and Blaine shuddered just thinking about it. Jacques had made it very clear, that he thought he was superior in anything academic (and most other things) and that it probably would get horrible to convince him otherwise and even get him to learn something.

Standing in front of his door, Blaine inhaled deeply and exhaled very slowly and controlled. He started to get nervous as he really wasn't sure what to expect._ Would he get yelled at? Was David mad at him for waking him up? Did he screw up on some Warbler assignment?_

He would just have to suck it up and see what was going on before panicking.

David and Wes were sitting on his roommate's bed in a quiet conversation when Blaine entered. They both looked up and smiled at him. What exactly did he see in their faces? Maybe something between relief, sadness and maybe anger? He wasn't sure.


	7. Chapter 7

"Hey" Blaine started and walked towards his own bed.

"Thanks for coming, dude. We weren't sure if you'd show up."

Definitely relief then.

"Yeah, sure. I meant to spend more time with you guys anyways. I know I've been pretty busy recently and I wanted to apolo…."

"Blaine, let me stop you right there. Why don't you sit down, drink some tea and relax for a minute." Wes pointed toward a steaming cup of tea next to some cookies waiting on his night stand.

He was full on confused now. _What exactly was going on here?_

After a few moments of silence he tried to voice his confusion.

"I thought you were annoyed with me…? Maybe even angry? I mean, I woke you up, David and I …well… I don't think I know what's really going on."

"Yeah, we figured. But seriously, just sit down, before you fall down. You look exhausted! ….. And Blaine – are you shivering?"

David noticed the slight trembles, when Blaine tried to pick up his cup.

Blaine blushed and placed it back immediately.

"Ah, yeah. It's pretty chilly outside. I'll warm up in a second."

Wes sighed and rolled his eyes, while walking over to the closet.

He found David's stack of extra blankets quickly (the quirks of knowing your best friends like he didn't even know his own younger brother) and brought two of them over to Blaine.

"Thanks" Blaine accepted the offer, but couldn't look up to meet his friend's eyes. The situation was starting to really make him uncomfortable and he didn't know how to properly deal with it.

When David cleared his throat, looking to get started with his speech, Blaine got ready to endure a long and exhausting hour or maybe even two – he couldn't have been more wrong.

"Ok Blaine, here's the deal. We know you're stressed out to the max…and No don't even try to disagree right now."

When he saw Blaine visibly swallow done any remark he could have made David continued

"we know, you wouldn't listen to us if we'd give you a long speech, so this is what we're going to do and we hope it'll help and maybe make you remember to do something just for self only every once in a while."

When Wes took over without missing a beat, Blaine got the impression that maybe they had rehearsed that.

"You will not leave this room today. At least to nowhere where you'd have to do work, so no library or study hall. Bathroom is fine and outside too, if you really feel like freezing to death. But we think everything you need is in here. We let the Warblers know, to not disturb you today, for nothing. And we'll post a note on your door for anyone else who might want to talk to you."

And now David got up and took over again.

"We took the liberty to remove any school related stuff from your room."

Blaine finally found his voice  
"Guys this is really sweet and all, but I really have important stuff to do. I have that paper and…"

"And we know, you do. But we also know that you'll listen to us and that you'll agree. Really Blaine, there is nothing you can say to change our plans, so you might as well embrace it and listen."

David really knew how to be just a bit intimidating and passive-aggressive. And before Blaine could even retort, Wes took over again, as if he never had been interrupted.

"So like I said, we took your schoolwork, but we added your favorite DVDs and some we know you haven't seen yet. They're over there."

Only when Blaine followed David's finger to a little table in the corner, did he notice that they really came prepared.

"There's also a bunch of junk food and some drinks. We'll bring you dinner later. Magazines are here" he pointed somewhere else "and most important, we think, is this."

And with that he walked over to Blaine and handed him his guitar.

"I noticed that I haven't heard you play in a very, very long time. It's weird, man. You usually don't go even one day without playing. It helps you relax. So – do it. And a lot of it. Write some songs, play some odd tunes, do whatever, really. But play some music."

Blaine didn't know what to say. He just looked around the room and couldn't help but smile by all the love he felt, surrounded by these two truly amazing friends he had. He might have even felt some tears coming up, but managed to keep them in for now.

"Ah… I don't even know what to say… you two are just…"

"Amazing?" David smiled.

"Beautiful?" Wes continued.

"Just the best?" David took over again.

"Yeah – you really are."

But suddenly Blaine remembered something. His shoulders slumped and once more David noticed that defeated look returning to his friend's face.

"But I can't really stay here. You've met Jacques – he won't…"

And with that David knew what was going on, and couldn't believe they had forgotten to mention his favorite part.

"Jacques is taken care of. The Warblers are taking turns tutoring and catering to his every need. Actually not only for today, but for your whole punishment. You'll do your share – don't worry – but it really isn't fair for you to do it all by yourself. Not when you do all those Warbler arrangements and other stuff."

Wes went over to sit next to Blaine.

"We worry about you buddy and we want you to be ok. So do what you want: play music, sleep, relax, eat - really we don't care. We'll get out of your hair now and see you later."

Blaine let his hands slide over the smooth surface of his guitar and sighed contently. He couldn't even remember to worry about classes or papers; he was just looking forward to do exactly what they said he should.

"Thank you" he said whole heartedly "just… thank you."

"No problem, dude. See ya" And with that, they were gone.

"That went reasonably well!" Wes relaxed against the closest wall and slid down to sit on the ground, while David softly closed the door.

"Yeah, I think so too. Let's hope it'll do some wonders – or at least take the edge of for a couple of days. Finals will be over soon enough and things will slow down. And who knows, maybe one day in the far away future, we'll find a way to make him realize he's stressed before it escalates."

Wes was just about to answer, when they heard the soft sound of guitar music being played from inside. They couldn't decipher which song was being played, but it seemed like a light hearted tune and it made them smile proudly.

"Awesome!" Wes exclaimed happily. After David had posted a note on his door that said something like "Please stay away" in not so nice words, he sat down next to Wes and both stayed silent while listening in.

Minutes passed before David started again:

"I'll have to head over to Jacques' room. Can't wait. I'm sure it'll be freaking amazing. I don't even like literature, when I have to deal with it in class."

"Just think of all the good you're doing, you good Samaritan you!"

"Yeah, yeah – I know. It better be worth it. What about you? What are you going to do?"

"I think I'll stay here for a while and I thought I could do some research for Blaine's paper or something. I mean I have all his stuff over in my room, which should make it easy to figure out what he still needs. And I'm almost done with studying for my own crap."

"Sounds great. I'll see you later then. Send someone o look for me if I don't make it to dinner. He might have hidden me in the basement for his entertainment."

Wes chuckled and took out his math book to do his homework, while enjoying Blaine's music for a little while longer.


	8. Chapter 8

Just when he was about to be done with most of his homework he heard the familiar sounds of Kurt's floating steps in the hallway. He looked surprised when he saw Wes sitting by Blaine's door.

"Hey Kurt. What's up?"

"Um not much, but I feel like I should ask you that. Did David kick you out or something?"

"No, no. I'm just hanging out. Wait, what are you doing?"

Wes asked Kurt, when he had almost reached the door, ready to knock.

"I was going to ask Blaine to help me learn my lines for the drama club. I'll have my first rehearsal tonight and I wanted to be prepared."

Wes shushed him then and dragged him away from the door. The other boy looked startled and tried to get away from him.

"What is going on, Wesley?"

"Don't' you remember our talk at the impromptu Warbler meeting this morning? How we asked all of you to not disturb Blaine tonight?"

Kurt felt anger growing slowly. He could not be serious.

"Yes, I remember. And I agreed, when I thought you meant all those freshmen asking for his help. I didn't think you were talking to me. And quite frankly I hope you aren't seriously considering that I should stay away from him!"

"Yes Kurt, I am. We meant everyone – you don't see David or me in there. He's by himself and I think that's just what he needs at the moment. It's just for today, I'd be more than happy to help you with your lines, you know."

"But we're friends. I'm sure he wouldn't mind. I helped him with French last night and it went really well."

Kurt looked a little lost and just a bit pissed still.

Wes wasn't sure how to make him understand without explaining everything to Kurt and he didn't think it was either the time or place for that right now.

But at the same time, he didn't want Kurt to think, they were being rude or not accepting of his and Blaine's friendship or relationship or whatever they thought they had going on exactly.

"Come on, be quiet and just listen." He walked the younger boy back to Blaine's room and gently pushed him closer, so he could hear something

Kurt's frown turned into a hesitant and surprised grin, while Wes heard a new melody and Blaine's soft singing. He stopped every few seconds, played again, stopped, changed a few notes and chords and played it again.

"What is he playing? Do you know?" Kurt whispered softly.

"That would be him writing a song."

"I didn't even know he did that." Kurt was suddenly reminded how little he apparently knew about his crush.

"Yeah, he does. He's pretty good at it actually.

And he usually can't be seen without his guitar. …Kurt, he hasn't been playing for far too long, and it kinda freaked us out. He needs this, you know? It calms him down, helps him put stuff in perspective. Songwriting especially does the trick. But he's not too great in taking time for himself most of the times."

"Oh… I didn't know that. I guess… I'm sorry. That just… it… sounds awesome."

"Yeah. It does."

Wes smiled at him, happy he apparently made the other boy understand, without losing to many words.

"Come on, I'll help you with those lines now."

"Actually I think I'd like to listen for a few more minutes."

"Alright – well you know where to find me. Just… please, Kurt…"

"I get it. Don't worry. I won't disturb him. I'll meet you in your room in ten minutes." Kurt answered softly.

Wes was satisfied and left, while Kurt took his place by the door, closed his eyes and listened to Blaine's soft voice floating through the walls.

Blaine let his fingers slide over his favorite guitar easily.

Playing the guitar was like a second nature to him and he couldn't believe how much he had missed it, until he got to play again.

The next two hours were used to scribble down chords and lyrics that had accumulated over the last couple weeks.

Especially his friendship to Kurt inspired quite a few song ideas and Blaine was amazed how everything seemed to come together on paper.

Singing with the Warblers and arranging songs was nice and sometimes he even enjoyed their structure and discipline, but that was nothing compared to the joy of an original song and a working melody coming straight from his very own heart.

He realized just how lucky he was to have friends like Wes and David in his life that seemed to know what he needed, even when he didn't notice himself.

Everything they had thought of was perfect and he truly never thought of leaving his room. Only a few times did he find himself remembering some tasks he still had to finish, but easily distracted himself with music, a movie or food.

When Wes and David came over with a sandwich and some snacks for dinner, they couldn't contain their happiness over their success, when they found the room a mess – full off candy wrappers and cans, and a lightly snoring Blaine in his bed.

They quietly dropped off the food somewhere close to Blaine, so it would be quickly found by him, and slipped out of the room again.

The rest of the day went by in a relaxing blur. Blaine woke up sometime in the late afternoon, by nothing but himself – no annoying alarms or people coming to ask him for help – just his body being rested enough, at least for now.

He was happy to find food right by his bed and continued with doing pretty much nothing important. At one point he wandered through his room, trying to figure out what to do next, when something caught his eye.

He crossed the room to pull out a much worn copy of "To Kill a Mockingbird" that his dad had given to him once.

He had read it at least five times in the past and there was a time, at his old school, when he had carried it with him wherever he went, using it as some sort f security blanket that he could go back to whenever he needed some comforting words.

His dad has seen how much the book had meant to Blaine and seemed to help him, so he kept suggesting book after book that were now all standing next to each other in his shelf – but none of them hit their marl just like Harper Lee's story had.

It was times like these, when Blaine realized how much he missed his family.

Some of them had struggled when he came out. His mother in particular took it hard, when she finally had to accept that her son wasn't just in some sort of phase and that she most certainly wouldn't get any _real_ grandchildren from him.

Things got easier after some time though, as she tried to educate herself and had many, many talks with her son, trying to understand him and his feelings.

He was lucky having a supportive father in his life. He had his back right from the start and was certainly responsible for his mother's motivation to learn.

They had always been close and Blaine had worried that their relationship would change or even be destroyed. But his father had surprised him once again and Blaine was able to confide in him when school was getting unbearable.

His father had shared many of his interests with his only son and they enjoyed spending, whatever rare free time the older Anderson had, together.

Going to Dalton hadn't been an easy decision. And in the end Blaine's parents had to make the final decision for him, wanting him to be safe and able to use all his talents and opportunities in a well meaning environment.

Blaine's dad started to send frequent care packages, the day his son left for boarding school and continued to do so until now – Blaine had no doubt , he would receive book after book, magazine and candy until he would graduate from college. His dad made sure to include snippets about groundbreaking gay rights developments that he would find in the obscurest papers and every time Blaine found one of them he had to laugh and cry at the same time. His family was just too precious.

Suddenly he realized that he hadn't moved from his spot next to the bookshelf, shuffled back to his bed and settled there, bundled into several blankets and began to read the next hours away.

David had decided to spend the night in Wes' room, wanting to give his roommate an uninterrupted night. They checked in once before bed, to see if he needed anything and were satisfied to get a more than happy negative reply.

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**A/N: I would love to hear from you...comments, criticism, things you liked or didn't... so, push that button and let me know :)**


	9. Chapter 9

Unfortunately the next day came too soon and everyone met for breakfast.

David and Wes had an early start and were under the first to arrive of their little group of friends and Warblers.

After they found their seats and were slowly waking up with the help of their first cups of coffee they spotted a very disgruntled Kurt stomping into the room, almost dragging an equally disturbed looking Jacques behind him.

The other boys tried, only semi successful, to hide their smiles as Kurt shot them very seriously pissed of glares.

"My rude-new-boy shift is over and I hereby retire. At least for today. Two shifts of him would be inhumane and I truly hope Blaine knows what we're putting up with for his sake."

"Oh, I'm sure he does. He sounded like that last night when we texted at least. But why don't you sit down for now, Kurt? Jacques looks occupied for now…at least I think so….kinda seems he's dissecting the fruit bowl over there."

"Oh he told me all about his weird fruit fetish. Seriously what can be wrong with one regular apple? He seems to be convinced that Dalton could not, in any case, satisfy his regular fruit standards. Gosh – he's ridiculous! And I'm not even starting on his wardrobe. He texted me 15 times last night. 15 times, David! I don't even text Mercedes that often in one day and he just needed two hours for that….. I think I need to change my number."

Wes started to laugh now, interrupting Kurt's rant and lightening up the mood instantly.

"Don't you worry, Kurt. Wes is taking over this morning and we have about 5 other Warblers who agreed to hang out with him too."

"Wait… what did you say? I'm next? You know how incredibly busy..." Wes looked seriously alarmed at the news and desperately tried to remember when and if he ever agreed to this. Now it was Kurt's turn to snicker and David stopped Wes with a swift smack to the back of Wes' head.

"Don't even start. It was your idea, you know."

Wes turned his attention back to his coffee, deciding for now that he had lost the battle and silently looked for ways to get rid of Jacques.

That boy was rude and he was sure he wouldn't even laugh at any of his jokes. Hmph… the things you do for friends…speaking of which:

Blaine easily made his way over to their table with a relaxed smile and slid into his usual seat next to Kurt and David.

"Well good morning to you! You look happy."

"Good morning, Kurt. Yeah, I actually am happy. I wanted to thank you guys again. Last night really helped a lot. So…thanks." Blaine ended with a little cough and sniff.

"No problem dude. It was a pleasure. And Kurt actually made friends with Jacques right away. A match made in heaven." Wes answered with a snort and wink in Kurt's direction.

"Funny, oh so funny."

Blaine gave Kurt a sympathetic smile and patted his knee under the table.

"Yeah he isn't the greatest company. But don't worry, I'm back and in good shape, so I can handle him again."

"Nu uh…don't even think about it. At least not until Wesley over here, has a chance to embrace the new kid from hell, until lunch."

Kurt now smirked towards Wes, who nonchalantly shrugged his shoulder.

"I'm not worried at all, I have you know. I'm awesome and he will notice soon enough."

"Keep telling yourself." David said and when Blaine once again started to cough he turned his attention to him and asked:

"You feeling ok? Did you get some sleep?"

"Yeah I did - a lot of it too. It's just a cold... You know how sometimes you're just so busy that, when you do finally relax for a bit your body kinda catches up with you? I feel good though, so stop with that worried frown. Some day it'll stay like that, David. And then I will be the first to say: I told you so."

"Yeah, yeah mother. Just take it easy, will you? You don't have to worry about Jacques today either, so use the time wisely and chill."

The banter went on for the remainder of breakfast and Kurt noticed for the first time, how important Blaine was not only to himself and his life, but to the dynamics of the group he was a part of. Even when he wasn't the most talkative person in the group (that spot had been proudly taken by Wes) he was always part of conversations, sometimes adding intelligent comments, funny joke or just giving his whole attention to someone or something.

It amazed Kurt to see Blaine in these situations, when the other boy was so wrapped up in a story that he forgot the world around him. It was moments like that, when Kurt felt the love for the shorter boy grow.

They excitedly chatted on and turned the conversation to Kurt and his play and Blaine's beautiful smile was directed to him and Kurt couldn't help but blush briefly. He hadn't had the chance to talk about their first rehearsal yet and he had to restrain himself quite a bit last night, not to call Blaine but just send him a few very excited text messages. While Kurt gushed about the director, his cast mates and most importantly his awesome part and songs, time flew by and the day of classes had to start.

Blaine had to get back into the swing of things quickly and by the time he got out of his last class for the day he was happy to have gotten so much sleep the night before.

But he also had to think about his workload again and felt that slightly growing panicky feeling in his gut. He met with the younger warblers before dinner, to see what they had gotten together so far and was just a little disheartened to see that, while they definitely had tried, most of the work would be left to him. He crammed all the different notes the boys had given to him together and buried it in his bag, before the regular practice would start.

Blaine's day hadn't been extraordinarily busy, it was really just a usual Dalton day, but he could already feel the exhaustion creeping up on him and he noticed that the sore throat was coming back.

He hated colds.

They were annoying more than anything, hindering him in his usual lifestyle, made it tough to sing and really just to function. At the same time a cold never really qualified as being truly sick, no matter how bad you felt – it was always just the simple cold.

Once again he thanked his friends for making him taking a break, cause he couldn't even imagine how he would have felt if he hadn't when he was already feeling pretty crappy now.

Fortunately he made it through practice and the evening, before being able to retreat to his room and work on various tasks until he finally crashed onto his bed.

The week was filled with sheet music, Warbler meetings, finishing papers and crossing off to-do-lists.

Blaine had spend plenty of time listening to Kurt's very entertaining stories about the drama club, which apparently stayed true to its name and had plenty of divas to share just one stage. He also read lines with him so often that he was sure he could fill in for several actors if he would need to.

But now he was just looking forward to the weekend.

Kurt was planning to go home, as was Wes and he didn't mind that David was going to stay at Dalton, since they weren't going to do much more than watching movies and ordering in. Going home wasn't really an option for Blaine this time, because his family was out of town and he didn't feel like making the drive by himself to not even be able to see his dad.

Before Wes left he had made sure that Blaine had some fresh orange juice in his room as well as every piece of fruit he was able to steal from the dining hall, plus a weird assortment of drugs he had collected from the Warblers for his use. Kurt had said good bye and promised to text him at least a hundred times each day and Blaine had to draw in a deep breath when Kurt had given him a hug and whispered to him, that he would miss him; before prancing towards his car and racing away.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Thank you for all the alerts and reviews. It's truly awesome to read kind words and find out that people enjoy the story.  
I've been a pretty horrible ff-lurker in the past and I guess I finally realize how wonderful it is to recieve feedback. So thanks to those who take a moment to comment. Enjoy!**

* * *

David had watched Blaine closely over the course of the week.

It seemed that his night away from everything had helped some, but mostly just momentarily stopped his health from deteriorating.

So he and Wes had agreed that one of them should stay to make sure he wasn't doing anything too stupid. After all they knew him, and they had witnessed immensely stupid ideas that only Blaine could have.

He didn't mind though – Blaine was good company and he had always loved their movie nights that they used to spend together; just the two of them.

So, there they were. Sitting in their room, waiting for their pizza, when Blaine once again had a short coughing fit that sounded worse and worse every time.

David wordlessly handed him an extra blanket and some cough syrup, he had gotten for this occasion. Of course Blaine didn't know that, but thought it was some leftover from another Warbler that had been donated to Wes.

David thought about bringing up Blaine's health and stress situation again, but decided against it. He wouldn't accomplish anything by pressuring him and to be honest, he couldn't actually say that Blaine didn't take care of himself. Cause seriously – they were sitting around in their pajamas, doing nothing.

Instead he made sure to have medication, water, blankets and food available, so he could make Blaine believe that David wasn't acutely worried about him, but that he was just amazingly well prepared.

His grand _taking-care-of –best –friend_ plan was shot during their second movie. They had decided on _Half Nelson_ since David hadn't seen it yet and Blaine had made it clear that not only was the movie great, the lead actor was hot as well.

However, halfway through the film David's phone started to ring and his family asked him to come home so he could look after his younger siblings because his parents had to go and take care of his grandmother who had fallen of some ladder at her home.

There really was no way he would be able to get out of this and so he grudgingly had to leave Blaine by himself.

"Would you stop obsessing, please? I won't do anything stupid, trust me. I will stay in bed, drool over Ryan Gosling and finish that pizza that poor you will have to leave here. So go, take care of your family and I will see you on Sunday night."

"Alright…but… please Blaine – take care of yourself. Take the medication and drink water. There are a couple bottles of juice and some water in the closet. Use them."

"I will… but why do you have ridiculous amounts of liquids in our closet?" Blaine asked when he looked into the depth of their closet, to find at least 5 large bottles of beverages.

"Oh, no reason. Ok, I'm gonna go now. Keep me updated, will you?"

"Dude, just go! And yes, I will text you. Maybe I'll just comment the movie so you won't get too bored on your drive."

"Shut up" David laughed and waved to Blaine, while grabbing his overnight bag and leaving the room.

Blaine tried to stick to his word, but when a bunch of freshmen were standing in front of his door asking for help with those adorable puppy dog eyes, he just couldn't turn them down.

So instead of an early night in bed with another nice book, he spent his time in the choir room, trying to teach the kids what he knew about arranging music.

It was tiring work and his students were a bunch of nervous kids, hardly able to stay quiet for longer than ten minutes. Not only once did Blaine find him self longing for Wes' gavel.

He managed to ignore the signals his body sent him for the most part. Advil helped against his headache and even the sore throat. It didn't help with this ridiculous exhaustion or the chills he started to get later in the evening.

Blaine wasn't stupid, he knew what chills and sweating meant. And he didn't like it – not one bit. But there wasn't really a whole lot he could do about it. So he stumbled into his bed, took even more meds, finished a bottle of water and fell into a restless slumber.

Waking up on Saturday was not an easy task. The sun was too bright, the noise of people talking in the hallway too loud and the room resembled a freezer.

Blaine tried to ease himself into the land of the living slowly, but his plan backfired when he had to struggle into a sitting position quickly, so he wouldn't suffocate from a coughing fit.

His chest was on fire and he had trouble getting his breath back. He braced himself on his mattress, just trying to figure out what was going on. His head was swimming and his vision seemed just a bit off. With a shaking hand he took the closest bottle of juice and drank.

He almost spit it back out, when his throat refused to cooperate and burned with every drop of liquid. He slumped back against the wall with a miserable moan.

Blaine wasn't really surprised by the turn of events. He had felt the sickness coming in for quite a while, but hoped he would escape it until finals were over. And he almost made it too… most of his assignments were done and just needed to be proof read, before handing them in.

The warbler's arrangement ended up a bigger problem than he had predicted, but he had made progress.

However, for now he wouldn't be able to do anything but stay right here in the same position and just not move.

His head hit his pillow and he easily fell back asleep with hopes for a better condition when he would wake up again.

Blaine was woken up by his cell phone happily chirping away. He let his hand wander over to his nightstand without opening his eyes and answered it groggily.

"'ello?"

"Blaine? It's me, Kurt."

"Oh – hi Kurt!"

Blaine fully woke up with a start and sit up to give the other boy his full attention and hopefully sound at least semi awake.

"Hey. What have you been up to? Did you and David have a nice breakfast?"

Blaine was momentarily confused but then remembered the night before.

"Oh no… he had to leave last night for a family thing. I've just been hanging out by myself, working on the song and stuff."

He was happy to see that his voice was holding up ok. His throat hurt like hell, especially when he had to swallow but it seemed like Kurt didn't notice anything wrong with him.

"Well, that sounds kinda boring. You could have told me, you know. You didn't mention it in any of your texts. We could at least have had a Skype date."

after a moment of silence he added:

"But that doesn't matter anymore, because I will save you from your boredom. I wanted to ask if you want to accompany me to the great mall of Lima, Ohio. I want to look for costume ideas and I could need a fashionable advisor. So, what do you think?"

Blaine rubbed his throbbing forehead and had to stifle a moan. A day in the mall… that sounded exhausting.

And he couldn't really picture himself even getting out of bed.

On the other hand – it was Kurt. Kurt sounding very excited – excited to be spending time with him no less. And he openly had asked for help, something he usually never did.

Blaine loved spending time with him and this was no different. He just wished Kurt would have proposed a relaxed movie night in his dorm. He didn't have much time to decide, before his friend would get suspicious.

So he swallowed his gut feeling and answered:

"Sure. When do you want me to pick you up?"

And this is why Blaine found himself in his car about half an hour later, drugged up on any flu meds he could find, nursing a cup of tea and trying to stomach at least some of his cupcake.

He had piled up several layers of long sleeve shirts under a Dalton hoody and hoped Kurt wouldn't notice how bulky he looked.

His headache continued to dull into a light but continuous throb until he had made it onto the streets of Lima and Blaine was hopeful that the meds would carry him over the day so he could actually enjoy some time with Kurt.

He would have to suck it up. And only in the back of his mind, did he realize how often he appeared to tell himself so, and that maybe it was too late and what he needed was just some serious rest.  
_Well, screw that. Nothing I can do about it now, but hang out with Kurt and help him with his costume – be a good friend for a change._

Blaine turned off the car, unclenched his hands from the steering wheel and took a deep breath. He was feeling a bit better and the shaking had stopped. He made sure to pack some meds in his messenger bag and looked into the rear mirror once more before he decided he was ready to start the day.

Kurt's bright smile, when he opened the door, let Blaine forget all the aches he had just a few hours ago and consumed all his attention.

Right away Kurt started to chat away, eager to tell him all about his morning and about the plans for the day. Blaine realized just how much he liked the younger boy when he stared at his animated face and listened to his nervous giggle, when he told him about a great trailer he had seen with some hot boy.

Fortunately he was able to draw himself back into reality before Kurt could notice that he wasn't really there or following his rambling words and he was relieved when he found out, that Kurt's family was out shopping and visiting girlfriends.

Kurt collected his things around the house and checked his appearance again (which, of course, was absolutely flawless) before he made his way to Blaine and grasped his hand to leave.

"I'm really glad you had time to come with me, Blaine. I wasn't sure if I should suggest a makeover for you…. But now, with what you're wearing today… you're practically asking for it." Kurt grinned and walked over to the passenger site with a wink.

_Wait - was he flirting? This was definitely flirting. Right?_

Blaine tried to repress the oncoming blush and slid into his seat. This was going to be a very, very long day of controlling himself.


	11. Chapter 11

The mall of Lima wasn't what you would expect from your average sized town.

It had some pretty nice stores, was clean and surprisingly not too busy.

However it still was populated by what seemed the total teenage population and the food court was a chaotic mess.

Kurt had dragged Blain through numerous shops and they still weren't even half way through. When Kurt told him, that he was just gathering information and was totally planning on making another round after they would be done with the first, he had to excuse himself and down some more pills in the men's bathroom.

So far he had been able to hold himself up. Kurt's energy had quickly transferred onto him and watching the other boy being so incredible cheerful was reason enough to pull himself together for the remainder of the day.

Apparently Kurt had enough from costume shopping for now and convinced Blaine to go one of those fancy designer stores. He tried to hang back to give Kurt time to find some of those astonishing sales he was always able to come up with, but Kurt had other plans. He quickly took his hand and led him to a stack of very soft looking woolen sweaters in various colors.

"I have walked by these for quite a while now. And…. I… well I always thought this would look magnificent on you."

He pointed to a dark purpled one, that really did look nice; probably way too expensive, but really nice.

"I've been checking online to see when the prices would go down, and apparently they went on sale just this week. Could you… I mean, would you mind trying it on?"

Kurt being shy and nervous was about the cutest thing Blaine had ever seen and of course he couldn't say no to him.

"Sure Kurt. You know I can't resist your perfect fashion sense. I don't know how you do it. Somehow you always know what looks good on everyone."

"Don't praise me yet, you haven't tried it on."

"Oh I'm sure I won't change my mind."

Blaine disappeared behind the curtain and Kurt slumped against the nearest wall.

Blaine was just too damn dreamy and was putting up with a whole day of shopping with him without even complaining just a little bit.

When Blaine stepped out of the changing area, Kurt's breath caught.

He was perfect.

The sweater hugged his body at all the right spots and showed off his lean, but muscular body. The color complimented his skin and hair color and…. He just looked perfect.

"So? What do you think?" Blaine asked while looking down at himself, letting his hand slide over his chest, enjoying the soft fabric.

"I… uh…" when the usually so articulate Kurt seemed like he couldn't find the right words, Blaine looked up through his lashes with a smirk.

"That good, huh?"

This brought him out of his trance and he just replied:  
"Get it. You should get it. You …I mean it looks awesome."

"Alright then."

Blaine decided on sparing him more embarrassment and left to change again.  
They made their way to the register, where Blaine paid for his new favorite sweater and both boys thought about the next time when Blaine would wear purple again. They left the store smiling and went on to look for more costume ideas.

When time went on Blaine felt the exhaustion creeping up again.

He kept having to wipe away sweat, but was feeling cold and even his jacket that he had taken off earlier didn't seem to help. Kurt didn't notice his distress.

He was just too engaged in whatever he was telling Blaine about his play. He was looking at displays and people and his mind was in overdrive with all of the different ideas floating around. This day had just been plain perfect.

Nobody had given them any trouble, even when he had been brave enough to grasp Blaine's hand in his a dew times. They had had fun and some great conversations. Blaine was a truly great listener and he was able to talk about his fears of fitting in (that had decreased quite a bit throughout the weeks) or his worries about finals (that Blaine was sure Kurt would ace).

Next to him Blaine was trying to just keep it together. Breathing was starting to become a real task again and he just wanted to lay down for an hour or two.

Fortunately the boys were on the last meters of their second round and they already carried a bunch of bags that held some clothes and accessories.

When Kurt decided to stop somewhere for dinner, Blaine could only nod in relief and they soon found a spot in a fairly secluded spot in the food court.

He volunteered to watch the bags, while Kurt got them sandwiches and salad.

There was really nothing he could really do. He had taken lots of medication already and there was no way he could take even more. He had always been way too frightened of the numerous side effects that were printed in tiny print, cause there were just too many.

Even too much Advil could be dangerous and he didn't want to risk feeling even crappier. Maybe getting some food in his system would help, although he wasn't sure he could even get anything down. He felt dizzy and nauseous and his headache was back in full force. But apparently he had been a pretty good actor.

Kurt didn't seem to notice his charade and seemed to enjoy their day together. He felt somewhat honored that he had been asked to spend the day with the other boy. Usually he would have thought that Kurt would have taken Mercedes or some of his other McKinley friends. But he hadn't – he had asked him. So he swore to himself he would keep up his little performance for another hour before he could excuse himself with wanting to make it back to Dalton in a decent time.

Kurt returned with their food and they continued chatting about everything and nothing. As predicted, Blaine had a hard time with his food and continuously sipping on his drink to make it easier to swallow. He made it through half of his sub, before giving up.

Blaine hoped Kurt would be fed up with the mall by now and it seemed he was in luck when Kurt pushed away his tray with a sigh and said:

"Ok – I'm done. Done with dinner and done with shopping. We had a successful day, I would say. Thanks for all your help."

"Sure Kurt, I had fun, too. And you know… it did get a new sweater."

"Ha, ha... yeah I guess you're right. Um Blaine… would you like to come over to my place? Maybe watch a movie?"

Blaine was excited to hear the invitation.

It wasn't like they never had movie nights before, but those usually happened in the commons with a bunch of other students with them and not just the two of them. Sitting on a couch, eating popcorn wouldn't be too hard on his body – nothing he wouldn't do at Dalton too, if he'd go home now. Plus – it was Kurt.

"Yeah, I'd love too. Any particular movie in mind?"

"I do, but I'll let you choose. Come on, I'll show you my collection."

Blaine got up to follow Kurt, when he was overwhelmed by dizzy spell. He frantically grabbed the table to keep him self upright and squeezed his eyes shut, so to not see the constantly moving floor.

Kurt turned around when he heard a strangled sound moan and was shocked to see Blaine swaying on his feet. He rushed back to hold the other boy up by his arm and carefully helped him sit back down.

"Hey… hey…Blaine. Are you ok? What's going on?"

"Uh... nothing…I'm good. Just a little dizzy for a moment."

"Yeah, you could say that. It looked like you would fall over any minute. Wait here, I'll get you some juice or something. Maybe you just need some sugar."

Blaine used his time by himself for some deep breaths and trying to get his pulse back to normal. He flashed Kurt a bright smile, when he returned and handed him some fresh juice.

"Thank you."

"No problem. How are you feeling?"

"I'm alright. I guess I haven't really had anything to drink today. Maybe I'm dehydrated or something."

"Are you sure? I can bring you to a hospital if you want. You still look a bit pale."

"Kurt I really am fine. I'm not even dizzy anymore. I just got up too fast. I've had a tough few weeks but nothing that all of you guys didn't have too. David and Wes have been on my case lately - I'm sure you noticed. So there really is no need for you to get worried too. I actually enjoyed that you haven't been on my case all day. I can just hang out with you, you know, have fun and stuff. I like that."

Kurt's face lit up at that and he answered:  
"I enjoy spending time with you too, Blaine. I had a great time. So… what now? Do you still want to come over? You could just crash at my place and rest if you'd like."

"I would love to hang out Kurt…but …maybe I should head back and get an early night."

"Oh sure…. are you ok to drive though?"

"Well how about this - We'll just stay here for a little while longer, go through your treasures again and I'll finish my drink."

Kurt was a little sad that Blaine wouldn't be staying in Lima, but he thought Blaine sounded convincing and he could assess him for a bit longer.

If he would still be dizzy then, he would drag him home – even against his will.

"Sounds reasonable, I guess."

"Ok… well what have you got there now?" Blaine pointed to the bags that lay abandoned where Kurt had dropped them a few minutes ago.

Kurt went through the bargains he had scored, while also watching for any distress Blaine might have shown. The other boy seemed better though. Color returned to his face and he wasn't as sweaty.

He looked relaxed almost. And so, half an hour later, they said their goodbyes in front of Kurt's house.

"I had a great time Kurt. I think we should do that again. But not before we give the movie another try."

Blaine smiled up at him. Kurt was sure he could lose himself in that smile or in his eyes …or his hair. He was overjoyed to hear maybe Blaine liked being around him as much as he did.

Who knows…maybe one day they will make it beyond the friendship stage.

But he reminded himself, that Blaine once said he wants to take things slowly, because he had had some bad luck with relationships before. He had wondered what exactly he had meant and if he was talking about them or about relationships in general. but it didn't really matter. He would do this right and if it wouldn't work out for them, it would be sad, sure, but he cherished their friendship enough for wanting to work on at least keeping that.

So yes… he would take things slowly, very slowly and enjoy their time together. He would make sure that Blaine felt comfortable and that their timing was right. But still – hearing how Blaine was almost asking him out on some sort of date or at least vocalizing his want to hang out, was … well it was really nice!

"Yeah. I'd like that. You should let me know, when you'll be in Lima again."

"I was more thinking about in my dorm sometime next week" Blaine replied with a smirk.

"Oh.. uh… ok. We can do that. I'll…. I'll bring some of my DVDs then." Kurt mentally slapped himself. Losing his ability to talk was not a good idea right now.

"Great. I'll see you tomorrow then and we can find a time then. I know you have rehearsals and stuff. Have fun with your family tonight."

"Yeah I'm sure I will. Take care, ok? And let me know when you made it to Dalton. Are you really sure you want to make the drive tonight?"

"Yeah Kurt, stop worrying. I'm fine. I'll go straight to bed when I'm there but I'll text you before. So don't worry."

Blaine used his last bit of courage, stepped forward and gave Kurt a tight hug.

He waved goodbye and got into his car to begin the long drive back to school.

Kurt could not stop smiling. Today had been fantastic.

Not only did Blaine agree to come to Lima on a whim, he had spent the whole day at the mall and even seemed to enjoy it.

Thinking back on the last couple of months he couldn't believe his luck. He had lost hope that he would find someone that would understand him before he would leave for college, and now there he was – having an amazing best friend, who happened to be gay and actually knew what he was talking about.

The last horrifying weeks at McKinley had of course left an imprint, but it didn't seem as important anymore; it had faded into the background. He walked back to his house (you might also call it skipping) and went to greet his dad and Carole, who had gotten back from shopping themselves.

Over all the excitement over his day and Blaine's movie invitation, Kurt almost forgot about the dizzy spell he had witnessed.

He knew that Blaine had been feeling a bit under the weather lately and he had looked a bit tired and worn out, but he surely would know how to take care of himself. Wes and David might have a different opinion, but Blaine seemed convinced he was alright.

And he said he liked how he didn't fuss about it him – so he wouldn't start now. He would just wait for a text and until then he could replay the day in his head over and over again.


	12. Chapter 12

Usually Blaine tried to not stop during his trips to Lima and back. The drive was super annoying as it was and stops made it feel at least ten times longer. There really wasn't anything interesting to look at along the way and so he always ended up turning on his music and sing a long so loud he would almost be hoarse by the time he made it to his destination.

This time though, his head pounded and every inch of his body was tired and hurting. He couldn't even make himself turn the radio on. The cough he had suppressed all day came back in full force and left him breathless a few times.

He stopped at least twice at gas stations, never really needing anything but getting something anyways to feel less like wasting time by only sitting around. He must have looked the way he felt, because the cashier at one of the stations gave him a sympathetic look and commented:

"Rough day, huh, kiddo? We have some good flu stuff over there at the end of row one. Could help you while you're traveling."

"Thank you, sir. But I'm alright. Almost made it home too. But thanks for caring."

"Sure thing. You just take care now. Drive safe."

Once back in his car Blaine slumped in his seat and took a big gulp of the Gatorade he had bought. The bottle was nice and cold and so he held it to his forehead, trying to relax.

He only had 30 more minutes to go the he could fall into his bed and sleep until classes on Monday morning. He didn't have any important meetings or people counting on him to be somewhere. The only thing he would neglect was his homework and he could just work a bit harder next week to get caught up again.

His body was longing for rest and it was increasingly hard to bring himself upright and alert enough to resume driving.

This had just been a damn cold yesterday. It had gotten so much worse in such a short time. He wasn't sure he ever felt this tired, not even after surviving a long day of classes followed by an all nighter and even more school the day after.

Just as he was about to start the car, his body was shaken up by yet another coughing fit. He felt pain deep in his chest and his fist clenched over his shirt where the pain radiated from.

Blaine shifted in his seat, trying to find a position that would ease the pain or make it easier to breathe, while still coughing up a storm. His eyes started to water and his hands were shaking, until he finally could breathe again. This was bad. Like not only a cold bad – and Blaine knew it.

He also knew that he probably should find a doctor and get some real medication, not only that over-the-counter crap he had been taken and what apparently hadn't done anything for him. At the same time though, he also knew that he hated seeing doctors, especially when there was a chance he could just recuperate by himself. He didn't like to look weak or needy. And so he just kept telling himself that he could handle everything himself – with lots of fluids and rest.

45 minutes later, after another stop and more coughing and sweating, he reached Dalton's parking lot. Not wanting to burden himself with anything more than absolutely necessary, he even left his new sweater on the backseat and only took his cell phone from the passenger seat. It took him a minute to find his balance once he had gotten out of his car and he slowly walked towards the dorms, hoping not to see anyone he would have to have a conversation with.

He was lucky until he made it to the big staircase he had to pass on his way; someone was calling his name from above, but Blaine just didn't have the energy or awareness really to look up and figure out who it was.

He didn't immediately recognize the voice, so he decided whatever the guy needed would have to wait.

Liam, who sat in several of Blaine's classes had spotted the other boy and remembered that he still had to return the notes that he had borrowed a few days ago.- (8am classes just weren't his friends)

He knew that they both had to finish an assignment for the class and that Blaine probably would want all his notes together. When he came close, Liam was slightly shocked to see in what shape Blaine seemed to be.

The usually very dapper and 'together' Blaine looked like he had stepped out of bed a minute ago. His hair was a mess and his clothes wrinkled. Quite frankly – he didn't look good. Judging from his sweaty face, he could have been out exercising, but his clothes didn't fit that assumption at all.

Blaine didn't even look up when he walked down the stairs and proceeded to ignore him even after he had called out for him. Blaine just continued to make his way to the dorms. Liam was a bit worried, since this was all very "un-Blaine", but he knew that David had cancelled his weekend plans to spend time with Blaine and that the boys were roommates. He would be well taken care of. Everyone knew what a big mother hen David could be – and from the looks of it, Blaine could use just that.

Kurt had an awesome weekend.

He got to spend time with his dad and most of his old friends. It was tough not being able to see Mercedes and the other girls almost every day and so the weekends were a must for Kurt. While they were pretty tiring most of the times, they also reenergized him for dull classes and disciplined Warblers meetings.

The weather was nice and his mood even better and so he decided to leave a bit earlier than usual, so he could spend some time with the boys maybe going out to dinner or doing something else.

He made it through traffic fairly quickly and was standing in front of the impressive Dalton buildings. Obviously he wasn't as stunned by it as he was when he first got here, but still – Dalton was huge and really beautiful.

It was midday and Kurt was starving. He never liked overly big breakfasts and there was no way he would ever get one of those disgusting gas station sandwiches.

He dropped his bags in his room and carefully put away his clothes before walking over to Blaine's room.

He had gotten a very short text the night before and knew that Blaine was spending the day in school. But since then he hadn't heard from him, although he had probably texted him ten times enquiring about his plans for the day and asking to go to dinner together.

Kurt rolled his eyes when he thought about, where he would probably find him.

Somewhere in the deserted library, by himself, engrossed in a million textbooks or sheet music, not able to hear a thing because he was listening music so loud over his headphones that he might possibly be deaf by the age of 19.

Kurt went to check his room first – just to be on the safe side.

His knock went unanswered; even though he was sure he had heard something or someone inside. _Was he ignoring him? Did he, in the end, not enjoy the day they had spent together?_

Kurt knocked again, a little louder this time and again he thought he heard some movements from inside. He went for the doorknob, just trying to see if it was locked and was surprised to see it open. Ignoring someone usually went with locking the door and so he didn't feel bad, when he cautiously stepped into the room.

The blinds were shut and the lights were off, so Kurt couldn't see a whole lot for a few moments. When his eyes had finally adjusted he looked around the room until he heard movement again. He spun around and faced Blaine's bed.

There he was – in his bed under, what looked like, a million blankets. He was moving around, seemingly trying to find a comfortable position…. and failing.

Kurt checked the time on his cell phone; it wasn't hat late already, right?

Just after 4:30pm. Well that was weird.

He quietly stepped over to the bed and almost whispered:

"Blaine? Hey Blaine!"

No answer; not even a tiny movement. This wasn't very surprising though. Blaine was always super hard to wake up and Kurt had gotten a lot of experience trying to wake him up.

He tried again a little louder:

"Blaine! Can you hear me? It's almost 5 in the afternoon. I think you should get up for a while otherwise you won't be able to fall asleep later tonight."

Again no reaction.

Kurt stepped a little closer, reaching out to uncover Blaine's head from his blanket.

He hesitated for a moment and looked around. The room was hot, like really hot and Blaine was under several blankets – strange… and probably not really healthy. He started to peel away some of the layers and noticed how, the closer he got to those that actually came closer to the body, were kinda clammy.

"Hey Blaine…come on wake up."

When he finally got to see Blaine's face, Kurt was shocked. The other boy was pale and he seemed to trembling.

Trembling like he would be cold, but the sweat on his face told another story. He tried to call his name again, but again there was no reaction. Kurt was getting worried now – this was not good.

He gently patted his forehead checking for what he already knew. Blaine had a fever and quite a bad one too. Kurt threw back all of the layers until only a sheet was covering the shaking body.

Kurt didn't know what to do. He didn't know what the hell had happened. He was fine the day before and now he couldn't even wake him up. He started to shake his shoulder repeatedly calling out his name and asking him to wake up.  
Blaine only moaned randomly and mumbled some incoherent words, which didn't help to calm down Kurt even a bit.

Suddenly he was startled by a loud knock and David's riled up voice from outside the door.

"Blaine! Open up! Come on Blaine, open the door!"

Before Kurt could even stand up to answer the door, let alone just call out to him, he had already opened the door and stepped inside. Kurt could see him and, what he assumed was Wes, barging in and standing in the middle of the door.

"Kurt? What the hell is going on?"

* * *

**A/N: ~Oh poor Blaine !~  
Hello again, I just loooove opening my email account and being blown away by your responses. Hope you liked this chapter. let me if you did (or didn't). There should be about 3 or 4 more chapters to come for now.**

** Hope you're having a great weekend :)**


	13. Chapter 13

David's parents came home on Saturday night.

His grandma had broken her wrist and they had picked her up from the hospital and brought her home with them for a couple of weeks. Since she was living by herself, David's grandfather had passed away two years ago, she would need some help around the house.

And since the drive to and from her house would be too long to do every day, they decided that she could just stay in the guestroom for as long as it would take her hand to heal.

This also meant that the house was crowded.

There was a needy older lady there, and an even needier younger sister – so David was itching to get back to Dalton. His mother had, of course, noticed and so she patted his shoulder and gave him a peck on the cheek when she said:

"Darling, don't worry – we won't have you around longer than absolutely necessary. You can leave tomorrow morning, bright and early. But only after you had some breakfast with us. You'll be back with your friends by 5 the latest."

David had smiled at his mother then and survived the night and even the next morning before he was speeding back to school.

He was mildly worried about Blaine the whole time he was going. He received only very sporadic text messages and his call last night hadn't been neither answered nor returned.

On his way back he talked to Wes and agreed to meet up to get some coffee along their way, since they were both somewhat close to school.

They were chatting away, walking to their rooms when Liam approached them.

"Hey, David; Wes. How's it going? Was Blaine alright last night?"

"Uh hi… What do you mean...alright? Why? What was wrong with him?"

David's worries increased tenfold and Wes beside him was looking anxious as well.

"Well, weren't you there last night? I saw him coming in and going to his room. He was in bad shape, it seemed like. Even ignored me calling his name. But I thought you were here, so I didn't stop him. Looked like he just wanted to crash."

David didn't answer and walked away. At least Wes remembered to reply and said:

"Thanks Liam. Blaine was coming down with a cold and we both had to leave for the weekend. I'm going to make sure David doesn't smother him with hugs now. I'll talk to you later."

"Ah… ok. Sorry I didn't check on him then. I really thought he was taken of. Ehm… would you mind telling him that I still have his notes and that I'll bring them over tonight if he's feeling ok."

"Sure thing, dude. And no worries." Wes answered while already trying to catch up to David, who had just disappeared behind the next corner.

He heard the other boy mumble something that sounded somewhat close to _shouldn't have left… that stupid idiot… _and some other remarks about Blaine's height.

They made it to the room in record time and David didn't waste any seconds, after his shouts to Blaine weren't answered, to open the door.

They expected a lot, but they surely didn't expect to see a very panicky Kurt next to a sweaty and only semi conscious Blaine, who really did not look good at all.

David was hit with stale air and the obvious lack of oxygen when he stumbled into the room.

He looked at Kurt, who looked like he was trying very hard not to cry or hyperventilate, and said:

"Kurt? What the hell is going on?"

Kurt tried to get up from Blaine's bed and then seemed to change his mind, taking one of Blaine's hands in his.

"I ….uh… I don't know. I just got here. And … he… he just… won't wake up. I don't know what's going on. He was under a lot of blankets and he's…. I mean... he's shaking. I think he has a fever."

Kurt looked back down to the smaller boy, brushing away some of his damp curls and wincing when he noticed, just how hot Blaine was.

He returned his attention to the others. Wes was making his way over to Blaine, crouching down on one knee and feeling his forehead softly, while David just looked shocked and somewhat frightened.

"He didn't reply to any of my messages and I thought it was because of yesterday. But…. He seemed just fine to me. He was all smiles and stuff."

That seemed to break David out of his trance.

"What do you mean, yesterday? Did you come back from Lima?"

"Eh… no… I asked Blaine to help me find some costume ideas. He came to the mall."

"What?" David was getting louder now, while Wes was still trying to coax Blaine out of his sleep.

"You're saying you spent the day in the mall…with Blaine? All day?"

Kurt only nodded; he didn't seem to understand.

"You have got to be kidding me! Kurt, didn't you get anything we were telling you? How could you be so stupid?"

Kurt didn't have a clue what was going on, or why he was being yelled at but he certainly wouldn't just take someone shouting at him – not if he could help it.

"David, what are you even talking about? It's not like I forced him to go shopping. He could have said no if he wasn't feeling well."

They were both fuming by now so Wes interrupted:

"Guys, I really don't think this is the place to do this. Take it outside. Blaine doesn't need to worry about you killing each other in his room. Go… speak outside and I'll see what I can do here."

His hand never left Blaine's arm and he only spared the others a second of his attention before turning back to the other boy, mumbling sweet, calming nothings.

But David shook his head:

"No, we can do that later. We have to take of him first."

"Well, that's what I'm trying to do. But it's not going to help when you two can't even look at each other. David, Kurt doesn't know what you're talking about, so take him outside and explain. And I expect to see both of you getting along when you come back. Stop being ridiculous, we obviously have more important things to worry about."

Wes answered quickly which in turn had Kurt and David stomping outside and the latter was trying to calm himself enough to not continue yelling. Apparently Kurt did the same:

"David, I'm sorry, but I really don't know why you're getting so angry at me. And I'm worried about Blaine… so if we could keep this brief…"

David replied softly:

"Ok… we …. Kurt, we really like you. But sometimes you really are an inconsiderate ass."

When Kurt looked like he wanted to cut in, David continued:

"No, let me finish. I should have told you all of this way earlier and now you're just going to have to listen. I know you care about Blaine and I know how much he cares about you. I also know that you haven't had it easy at your old school and that coming to Dalton was hard for you. Blaine took care of you as he takes care of everybody. He puts the needs of others before his own. He _always _does that. And maybe you couldn't have known… but I thought you knew….I think…. We told you. Maybe not in so many words, but I thought you understood."

Kurt visibly gulped at that and still wasn't entirely sure where this was going.

"Kurt… Blaine…- he stresses. Ok? He can't deal with stress. Not when it's so much that he has to ask for help. It crushes him sometimes. It's the same every fucking year. But it's different as well. Sometimes he just forgets to eat, or he doesn't sleep…sometimes he won't talk. But there is always some sort of destructive coping mechanism.

We always try to catch it on time, but we've never made it so far. When you came along… he… he was happy. You make him happy Kurt. But he also worries so much about you. About what you think of him. About you not having even more burdens to carry with you.

He doesn't like to feel like people have to take care of him. So we just make him take care of himself. It took us a long time to make him do what we say…. But he does now.

Kurt….I'm gonna say this again, because I don't want you to get me wrong.

We love you and we love having you here….but … you need to be more considerate. I know you've been all over the place with your play and Warblers and solos and all that…but you need to look around every once in awhile.

You knew that Blaine wasn't 100%... you knew it, because we told you. We don't lock him up for no reason. There's no way you couldn't have seen that he was getting a cold. Right?"

Kurt didn't know what to say. This was all so much. Had he really been this blind? This self absorbed? Has this been going on for long?

He knew that lying was the worst thing he could possibly do right now, so he just nodded.

"And still you ask him to drive out to Lima to spend the whole day at the mall? Didn't you think for one second, that that could be bad idea?"

"I…uh… yeah. He… was dizzy. I wanted to make him stay at my place. But he…. He insisted on going back. I am sooo sorry David! I can't believe I was such a horrible friend. I just really enjoyed spending time with him and…. I …. You're right, I was thinking about my play and my feelings… and myself…. I am so sorry. I really didn't mean to."

Kurt started to openly cry now and David heaved a sigh. He didn't want to crush the kid, but he had to hear it from someone. Especially after what happened to Blaine.

"It's alright Kurt. I know you care and I know you care about Blaine.

I'm sorry we didn't tell you sooner. We just thought that Blaine doesn't like people to know… but you're more than just any random person to him, so I should have told you. He's just…. He's really bad about taking care of himself.

His past… it isn't entirely nice and some people made him think badly about himself. Wes and I and the Warblers have been pretty good about kicking that out of his system… but he just can't deal under pressure. "

"Well… now that I know – maybe I can help you. Maybe I can help him. I mean two extra eyes might do the trick."

"Yeah… that would be nice. He listens to you, you know."

Kurt smiled at that and David added:

"Let's get back… maybe Wes got him to wake up and we can bring him to a doctor."


	14. Chapter 14

Wes was close to a major freak out.

He had tried to wake Blaine up for more than five minutes and people were shouting around him – still the boy would not open his eyes. He tried to check his body for any visible wounds or other things that could have clued him in on what was going on with him, but all that was visible was a pretty tiny, sweaty guy in damp clothes.

Since the trembling didn't stop, Wes decided to at least give him a real blanket. He knew that feverish people needed to cool down, but at the same time he didn't think he could deal with his best friend writhing on his bed in agony because he felt too cold. At least not by himself. He would have to wait for the others to return before doing that.

He resumed shaking Blaine's shoulder and letting his hand run through the boy's hair.

"Come on Blaine, I really need you to wake up now. You need to drink some water and maybe take a cold shower."

At least that's what he always saw on TV and he really couldn't think of many other ways to help him.

Instead of random mumbles, Wes suddenly heard a very quiet "Wes?" – So quiet he had to lean closer to Blaine's face to even here it.

"Yeah buddy, it's me. I need you to open your eyes for me for a moment, ok?"

He grasped the other boy's hand in his and squeezed softly to make sure he knew someone was close by and watched as Blaine, very slowly, started to open his eyes.

He blinked once and a second time, looking around without any real orientation, before he finally focused on his friend.

"Hey… hey… it's so good to see you awake. Ok. Man …you had me worried there for a second."

Blaine didn't say anything and looked like he tried very hard not to fall back asleep right away.

"Ok …dude, I need you to stay awake, ok? Just stay awake for a little while. We need to figure out what to do with you and it makes me feel a lot better, when you're awake and alert."

"Ok" was the only thing Blaine replied. His breathing sounded labored and looked like it took way too much effort.

"Blaine. How's your breathing? Does anything hurt? Do you know what happened?"

At that David and Kurt quietly came back into the room and both let out a relieved sigh when they saw Blaine's eyes open and focused onto Wes.

"You got him to wake up!" David exclaimed as he came to sit next to his best friends.

"Yeah I did. Took me long enough. Kurt, could you get me some cold towels and a thermometer? We need to control his temperature. And something cool to drink. Water is probably our best option."

Kurt didn't even reply, he went straight into the bathroom and hurried back. When Wes looked down again, he saw that Blaine's eyes were halfway closed again and so he started again, a little louder:

"Ok, Blaine…. Remember? I asked about your breathing. How`s that working for you?"

Blaine brought the others back into focus and when he opened his mouth to answer his body was once again wrecked by a deep cough that sounded like, it would hurt like hell.

David's eyes opened wide in shock and when he noticed his friend's trouble he got onto the bed with him, sat him up and leaned him against his own chest. The coughing subsided and Blaine could breathe again.

"It's ok. You're ok."

David whispered into his ear, while simultaneously looking more than worried at Wes and Kurt who was handing the thermometer to him and applying the towels onto Blaine's calves and armpits.

"I'm going to put this under your arm ok? We need to check your temp. And after that I'll put the towel back on, so we can cool you down."

David prepared him, so he wouldn't startle and probably begin another coughing fit.

"Mmmh, ok."

"How you're doing?" Wes asked again.

"I …uh… it hurts to breathe. And… I'm cold. I've been cold a long time. I just couldn't warm up and I ran out of blankets. Sorry, David. I'll wash your sheets, I promise."

"It's ok buddy. Don't worry about it."

"When did this start Blaine?"

Wes seemed like he wanted to catalogue everything before the other boy would fall asleep again.

"I wasn't feeling very well yesterday. I've just been so exhausted you know? I really tried to rest, but nothing I did really worked. I thought it was just a cold… but… last night got bad. I just couldn't warm up."

Blaine said again and slumped against David's chest, worn out from all the talking.

Wes squeezed his hand again while David patted his hair. It was times like these, were he really enjoyed having guy friends who weren't afraid of being touchy feeling. It felt good and Blaine needed to feel their presence, needed to know he wasn't alone.

He still didn't know what was going on or how things could get so bad, but he was sure things would get better now. They would take care of him, like always.

"Can I close my eyes now? I'm tired."

Wes thought about that for a minute. He knew Blaine needed sleep, but was worried about having to wake him up again, since it had been so hard the first time around.

"Ok, but you can't lie down. It'll make it easier on your lungs if you stay sitting up."

Blaine didn't care and had his eyes closed before Wes even finished his sentence.

When the thermometer beeped everyone held their breath waiting for Wes to announce the result.

"It's high. Way too high. 104.2. David, we need to call the nurse. She needs to come here or tell us what to do. It's too high."

"Yeah – alright. I'll go and try to reach her. Kurt come here, take over for me."

Kurt who had stayed quiet and just listened to his friends, walked over and got his first good look at Blaine.

He looked terrible - teeth chattering, body trembling terrible.  
He squeezed behind him and gently moved him back against his chest. He felt the rustle in Blaine's chest and couldn't help but push himself just a bit closer to him.

He felt so, so bad. He was to blame for Blaine's condition, he was sure of that. David had walked outside to make the call and Wes was busying himself in the bathroom. He was alone with his best friend and felt very scared again.

"Hey" Blaine whispered once he recognized the very particular smell that surrounded him.

"Shhhh, don't talk. Save your energy."

"It's not your fault, you know."

"Blaine, seriously – stop talking. I don't want you to have to cough again. That looked painful."

"It is… but I need you to hear me out. This is not your fault. I was stupid, still am and probably always will be. I should have stayed in bed and you didn't make me do anything. So don't put this on yourself. I should have stayed in bed….or I probably should have told someone I wasn't feeling very well. Sorry I didn't."

"It's alright."

Blaine got agitated and found a little strength to give his voice some more volume.

"No it really isn't. I should have told you. And I should have told you…. Well…"

"What, Blaine? Spit it out so you can rest."

"Kurt, I'm not the awesome guy you think I am. I'm far from perfect, far from the guy you deserve to be your friend."

"I'm gonna stop you right there. I don't care what you think. I believe you're brave and strong and an amazing friend. You might not know how to ask for help or that it actually is ok to do so and you might also not know how to realize when to take a break. But I like you just the way you are and I don't want anybody else.

We will continue this conversation, when you can actually sit up without being held up and when you have your normal temperature back. Until then I need you to relax. And I need you to tell me when you feel worse or even when something itches or when you need to scratch your toe.

Really… I just need you to tell me whenever you feel something, you shouldn't feel, ok? Blaine, I need you to be ok."

"Mmmh..., Kurt. I'm… tired… can I sleep? Just for a bit?"

"Yes. Close your eyes. I'll be right here. I'm not going anywhere."

Kurt hummed some soothing melody and ran his hand over Blaine's locks, while his other hand stayed on his chest, needing to feel it moving, needing to feel the heartbeat and even the rustle in his lungs.

Once his breathing evened out, Kurt let a few tears slide down his face while he held Blaine. The boy who always took care of him, who drove hours to help him at his old school and who made sure he would fit into his new one, looked even smaller now. He had never seen him so vulnerable and broken.

He was usually always in control of his body, his voice – of everything really. But now… he couldn't even lie down without struggling to breathe and was sweating buckets.

This was a wakeup call.

Kurt had gotten so used to having a knight in shiny armor. It had been so nice for a change to feel accepted and appreciated that he had forgotten to return that feeling.

He would make sure now, that Blaine felt taken care of.

Even if he would be resistant at first. He wouldn't let this go any further. Blaine needed help for a change.

Wes came back into the room and exchanged the towels on Blaine's body with new ones. He sighed and gave Kurt a tentative smile.

"He'll be fine, Kurt. He's stronger than he looks."

"Yeah, I know. And Wes?... I wanted to apologize to you too. I'm sorry I…"

"Don't worry… I'm sure David already chewed you a new one. Just imagine I was there with him and said the same things and we're good. You're here now, and that's what counts. He needs you, you know?"

Kurt just nodded and smiled the slightest bit, before they both returned to fussing about Blaine.

Wes opened a tub of menthol rub and generously applied it to their sick friend's chest. The smell spread through the room and made Kurt remember his younger years, when his dad had done the same for him.

Blaine slowly seemed to relax his body. His limbs weren't as tense and his breaths got deeper. Rest would probably the best way to help him, however Kurt would rather see him up and talking, maybe even joking around or singing. Yeah – singing would be great. For now, he would have to be satisfied by a sleeping Blaine though. And by chance he would even stop trembling. Wes found another clean sheet somewhere in the depth of the closet and exchanged it for the blanket that covered Blaine for now.

And then… there really wasn't anything to do; besides sitting and waiting for David to return – which he did about ten minutes later.


	15. Chapter 15

"How's he holding up?"

"Alright. He was up for a while; pretty responsive and alert. Haven't checked his temp again. He fell asleep a few minutes ago and he stopped the shaking. I found some menthol stuff in your bathroom, that seems to help with his breathing. Maybe I'm hallucinating, but it doesn't sound as strained to me."

"No, I agree. I think it's his nose though. Menthol always clears stuff like that up, so breathing through his nose must be easier now." Kurt added.

"Ok, well… I reached the nurse.

Ugh… she can't come. Has a sick kid at home and apparently it doesn't really matter when the on call nurse can't really be on call. She asked me about his symptoms and while she did say his fever is too high and the severity of the symptoms worry her, we shouldn't bring him to a hospital yet. We won't find a doctor to come out on a Sunday night and she thought we should stick it out, make him as comfortable as possible, until she can assess him in the morning."

"But why no hospital? I'm not sure if I can handle the responsibility, to be honest." Wes answered.

"That's what I told her. But apparently there are a lot of things to deal with, if we'd bring him in. Like his parents' consent, which would be tricky since they left for Europe this morning, or informing the dean and apparently she thought, that he wouldn't be too happy about a missing on call nurse.

And for now she said, there still is the possibility it's just a bad cold and his body is just weakened by stress and all that."

David took a big breath and continued:

"So here's what we're going to do. We will try to bring done his fever. That's priority number one for now. She suggested an ice bath if necessary. Also, he needs to drink and maybe he can even keep some soup down. She said light blankets are ok and ibuprofen as needed. And she will check on us every 30 minutes for now. I told her to."

"Ok, that sounds like a plan then. Thanks for taking care of that David.

One of us should go and get ice cubes from the dining hall. And I have a bottle of ibuprofen in my room, we can use that. And what about the soup?"

"You go get that. And bring some other stuff for us to eat and to survive the night with. I'll get the ice and meds and while you're gone, Kurt and I will try to get him into the bathroom."

Kurt just nodded and watched as the others exploded into busyness and left them alone. He carefully slid into a more comfortable position, leaning against the wall and continued to stroke Blaine's chest under the sheet. This was going to be a long and tiring night.

Oh, was he right.

The night did become even more stressful, when they attempted to get Blaine to walk to the bathroom. They got him to sit up and swing his legs over the bed, but standing up was just not going to work. Blaine was coughing and sweating like crazy and apparently his legs didn't agree with their plan of movement.

David looked over to Kurt and pointed to the bathroom with his head and quickly took the dazed Blaine into his arms. Carrying would be, while maybe a little embarrassing for his friend, sooo much faster and easier on the already weakened body.

David took him into the bathroom, where Kurt was getting the tub ready.

They all had been more than relieved to realize that they wouldn't have to bring Blaine into the common bathroom to help him into the tub. No one was keen on having to explain to the others, who would certainly break out into some sort of panic. David was a prefect and usually, prefects got their own single room.

However David had shared a room with Blaine for quite some time now and neither of the boys wanted to change that. The dean couldn't have been happier.

Single rooms were rare and constantly needed for guests to stay in and they had these weird doubles,that still had a bathtub in them. They couldn't be assigned to regular students, since he was sure that he would be confronted with lots and lots of complaints by other students that wanted some nicer amenities as well.

But – assigning a prefect a room like that was feasible. So…. David and Blaine had a bathtub in their bathroom, which couldn't have been better.

David helped Blaine to take of all of his clothes besides his boxers and tried to prepare him for what was to come:

"Ok, Blaine. Are you with me?"

"Mmmh.."

"We're going to help you into the bathtub now, ok? It'll be really cold and you won't like it – but it's really important that you stay as calm as you can."

Kurt was biting his lips nervously. He really didn't want to be here watching this. Blaine was shaking as it was. He could barely keep himself sitting on the floor and they were going to put him through so much more pain in a minute.

"Ok… let's do it then. But only if I get to wear my Dalton hoodie afterwards, the nice and comfy one."

David laughed a little then:

"We'll see how your fever is responding. But if it's going down you can have your sweater. But no blanket – only a sheet."

"Deal."

"Ok, so how are we going to this…I doubt he'll be able to sit up the whole time."

David wasn't sure how to go on with this. TV shows made it look so easy, but this was something entirely different.

"I'll go in with him:" Kurt answered while he was already shedding his clothes onto the floor.

David didn't have a chance to reply when Kurt was already standing in his boxers behind Blaine, ready to help him up and into the tub.

The water was terribly cold and Kurt couldn't believe what he volunteered to do. He didn't say anything though, just slowly sat down and eased the violently shaking Blaine onto his chest once more.

This was definitely not how he had pictured this in long sleepless nights.

Blaine was slippery and shaking, trying hard to keep it together and holding himself up by the edge of the tub.

"Shh, try to relax. Lean back against me. You need to relax, Blaine."

Teeth's chattering was the only answer he got, but the other boy did let go of the tub and relaxed into him as much as he could.

"How are you guys doing?" David asked.

"Peachy. Ice baths are the new spring trend, you know? Does wonders to my complexion."

Blaine snorted at that and looked up to David with glassy eyes:

"What he said." He added with a tiny smirk.

"Well I'm glad you haven't lost you humor. Ms. Moore said that ten minutes would be more than enough for now, so you just have a few minutes left."

Soon enough they had Blaine out of the tub and changed into some sweats. Once they had him settled onto his bed, which David had changed once again, Kurt excused himself and got changed himself.

When he returned into the room David had just taken Blaine's temperature again.

"Did it work?"

"A little. It didn't go down a whole lot, but it's also not getting any worse."

"That's good I guess." Kurt said while coming to sit next to Blaine.

"Kurt… uh… can you..?"

"What Blaine, what do you need?"

"Can you…uh sit…behind me again?"

"Yeah sure." Kurt answered him with a bright smile and slid behind him again.

"Like that? Is that comfortable for you?"

"Mmh… very."

"Ok, buddy… I'm gonna put some more of that menthol stuff on your chest and then I have some meds for you to take."

"Ok."

Kurt was getting worried by Blaine's monosyllabic answers and his drooping eyelids – shouldn't he be more awake after an ice bath?

When David was done with the menthol he said:

"Great. Now I have some pills here and I need you to wash them down with a lot of water ok?"

"No. I'm tired. Need sleep."

"I know. And you can. But you need to do this first. You are dehydrated and your body needs fluids."

"Can't"

Kurt brushed his hand through the messy curls and whispered to Blaine:

"Yes you can. And you will. Drink some water and then you can sleep. I won't leave, but you need to drink."

Blaine only sighed and opened his eyes again, gesturing to David to pass the pills.

Once he was done, he relaxed back onto Kurt and David pulled up the sheet smiling to Kurt and mouthing a thank you.


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: Sorry this took longer than the others. I kinda got off track for a few days... but here I am. :) **

**So...this is the second to last for now. Hope you like it. And thanks again to all those lovely reviews and alerts. They really are appreciated.**

** snowangellms: you are totally right. It is a bit unrealistic... but oh well - I kinda wanted them in that bathtub together and when that happens my brains turns off that annoying logic part ;)**

* * *

By the time Wes made it back with soup, more meds, lots of water and juice and some junk food for the other, everyone was exhausted.

Kurt and David had spent the time just watching Blaine, checking his temperature at least every fifteen minutes and softly talking to each other while the other boy slept.

His breathing still concerned the others. It was labored and just a bit too flat. They were sure that sleep was the best for him for now, but he was moving around a lot, occasionally mumbling – definitely deep in some feverish dreams.

They chose to not wake him up for now; they could always just warm up the soup in the microwave they had in the commons.

When the thrashing got too much, Kurt whispered to Blaine to wake up. He rubbed his hands over his arms and chest, trying to ground him in the here and now.

"Come on Blaine, wake up. It's just a dream."

The strangled sob that came from the sleeping boy shocked the others.

"Buddy wake up. It's ok. You're safe." Wes said while sitting next to him on the bed.

Blaine slowly opened his eyes, not knowing where he was for a moment. His panicked eyes were unfocused and not quite there.

"Blaine, it's ok man. You're good. We're right here. Kurt is behind you."

Blaine looked down onto the hand that was currently smoothing down his shirt on his chest and slowly blinked the room back into focus. Wes was glad when he saw recognition in the other boy`s eyes.

"Hey there. How you doing?"

It took Blaine a while to answer. His mouth felt like it was filled with cotton and his head took longer to process than usual.

"I'm alright, I think. Just… can I have some water, maybe?"

"Sure buddy. Just a sec." David went to get something and Blaine was able to relax again.

"You don't have to stay on the bed the whole time, you know. I can just lean against the wall."

"Oh… I don't mind really. But if you want me to get up… I can.."

"No… I don't. I just thought that maybe you wanted to. I'm sure you have stuff to do."

Wes actually snorted at that and had to turn around to not full out laugh while Kurt answered exasperated:

"Blaine. You really are too dense sometimes. You don't really believe that either one of us would just leave you to get some homework done, right?

You are burning up, not drinking enough and basically delusional most of the time, but still – you think we'd say _see ya for class tomorrow_.

Honestly Blaine, you have got to do something about your self-worth issues."

Blaine just swallowed and nodded at that and shot Wes an angry glare when he turned around, red as a tomato from holding his breath too long.

"I agree with him, you know."

And before Blaine could chuck a pillow at him he got up to prepare the soup.

Getting Blaine to eat was, yet again, challenging.

He was falling asleep constantly and they really didn't want hot soup on their friend. They already had enough stuff to worry about and a burned chest really wasn't on their wish list for now.

He also had a hard time holding the spoon, since he was still shaky. As his temperature was still high his body tried to cope with getting rid of whatever infection was going on inside.

Unfortunately that didn't help him eat.

He refused any help that the boys offered. He would not be fed, no matter how long it would take him to eat the soup himself. And so they took turns reminding him to try again, waking him up from his dazed napping.

They managed though: Blaine ate and slept; he drank and slept some more and he took meds and then… he slept.

David, Wes and Kurt stayed by his site, checking his temperature, feeding him crackers and juice and changing towel wraps.

The day had long gong and they were deep into the night, neither of them really wanting to go to bed, but also almost falling asleep where they were sitting.

The room was dark, with only a little lamp on David's nightstand to shed some soft light.

The only thing to be heard was Blaine's still rough breathing and an occasional bad cough. He looked like he was in pain, while he slept.

There were a few times when they heatedly discussed bundling him up and bringing him to the hospital. Especially when his temp decided to rise again sometime around 3 am, or when the coughing got so bad once he looked like he might faint from the lack of oxygen.

They were able to bring the fever down again and calm Blaine down enough to control his breathing. What worried them the most though, was how compliant he was.

Besides the soup incident, he let them do everything with him. He never even budded into any of the discussions and just let them decided. He was weak. Weak and exhausted and Kurt felt him struggling to fall asleep, struggling to breathe, struggling to stay awake.

Everything was just a big struggle for him.

But they stayed right by his site. Since he never really spoke up when he needed or wanted anything they became experts on his facial expressions and managed to figure out when he needed water or had to cough or any of the other things.

Wes suggested taking turns sleeping on David's bed and David himself took the first turn, while Kurt said he would just stay where he was and nap there.

So this is where Wes found himself at 4 am – watching his best friend fight the killer cold from hell and his other friends peacefully sleeping.

He wasn't sure how things got so bad all of a sudden but he was sure they would make it. He was grateful to Dalton, grateful to have such amazing friends that he knew, he could count on anytime. And this time they just had to proof to Blaine, that he was part of their group. That he didn't always have to be the provider and helpful hand, but that he could receive help. That people actually really wanted to be there for him.

So far, so good though. They would all be fine, he was sure of it.


	17. Chapter 17

David was brought of his slumber, that she shouldn't really have fallen into in the first time, by a soft knock on the door.

He looked around the room quickly and saw pale but fairly peaceful looking Blaine resting on a slightly snoring Kurt (he would never let him live that down) and behind him slept Wes, not disturbed by the noise at all.

A quick glance at the nightstand told him that it was already close to 7 am.

He went to answer the door, wondering who it could be, and was greeted by Ms. Moore.

"Hello David. I'm really sorry that I couldn't come in last night and was up worried for a long time. But I was able to have someone come in this morning so I could check on you boys early. How did the night go?"

"Well we had a few scares to be honest, but it went all right in the end. His fever's down, but nowhere near to normal. I'm surprised we didn't break the thermometer with how often we used it. But Ms. Moore – I really don't think this is just a cold. His breathing sounds horrible and I think it hurts him."

"Hmm… I was worried about that. Let's check on him and see what we can do."

David went to wake up the others while focused on Blaine.

"Honey, wake up for a minute please. I need to check on your lungs."

Blaine woke up a lot quicker than before but was still pretty out of it.

Kurt reminded him of his presence by squeezing his hand and running a hand over his hair. Blaine's breathing got back to normal and he seemed to recognize where he was.

"Why, hello there. I heard you had a rough couple days, huh? I really wish you would have told me last week before it got so bad. But for now, let me listen to your chest."

Blaine nodded and sat up with Kurt's help.

Once the nurse was done checking various things and talking quietly to Blaine, who had to stop a few times to cough, she straightened up and motioned the boys to follow her outside.

Kurt looked conflicted, wanting to hear what she had to say and not wanting to leave Blaine by himself.

"Go. I know you want to. And I'll be ok for a few minutes."

"But…are you sure… I can"

"Kurt. Just go. You can be my pillow when you come back."

Kurt rushed out of the room, but only after making sure Blaine was positioned against the wall and cushioned by at least four pillows.

"Ok. David you were right. This is not only a cold.

And of course I'm not a doctor, but to me it sounds awfully close to pneumonia. His breathing is highly constricted and I worry that he doesn't get enough oxygen. His fever is still too high for my liking and he is a bit confused.

So…we're bringing him to a doctor. I will get my car to the front and call his parents and the dean. David, come with me please, so you can get a wheelchair from my office. We don't want him to move any more than he absolutely has to. You two, make sure he wears something warm and comfortable and then meet me outside so we can get this over with quickly."

The boys nodded and went off into their designated directions.

Blaine was alert and talking and he sure didn't hide is absolute dislike of having to go to the doctor. More than once did he try to convince the others, that he was fine and able to sleep it off.

At first Wes and Kurt tried to reason with him but soon enough they just ignored his whining and dressed him almost like a doll.

Ms. Moore had been able to inform a sleepy dean and left a message for Blaine's parents and soon they were at the doctor's office.

Ms. Moore had been right.

Blaine had a pretty bad pneumonia. The doctor seemed to have a hard time deciding whether he should admit him into the hospital, but when Blaine very loudly explained his absolute hatred to that idea and that he would be taken care of at school he agreed. But not before he talked to the nurse and each of the boys, making sure what exactly they had to do and when to seek out more help.

Pneumonia was tricky. They could get worse quickly and it was important to spot the signs early on. But when the boys described what they had done these past hours, he was sure they could handle it.

Especially since the nurse agreed to watch over him in her office during the day and that she would be reachable by phone at all times.

He handed them prescriptions for a handful of meds and took his time explaining any possible complications. He added an inhaler for emergencies since Blaine's breathing was the most worrisome.

Not as bad as they had thought, since he still got adequate oxygen levels, but it was straining and Blaine could use some rest in that area.

Kurt was still a bit doubtful about their decision to let Blaine go back to school but he grudgingly agreed, when the doctor explained how his situation wasn't life threatening and that most of the times patients recovered a lot better in an environment they felt safe at.

And Blaine definitely didn't seem to like spending time in a hospital. He assured him though, that if his temp would go up to a certain degree or if Blaine's breathing was getting any worse Kurt had the duty to call an ambulance.

"Never gonna happen" Blaine wheezed at that and went to stand up, aided by Wes by his side.

Back at Dalton Ms. Moore helped Blaine settle in the infirmary and sent the others to gather his things from his room. Once he was situated, had taken his meds and was close to falling asleep yet again, Ms. Moore turned to the others.

"You boys did good. I'm very proud of you. And I'm sure you could all use some sleep now. I informed your teachers and you can take the whole day of."

When nobody moved and only widely grinned at her, she added:

"Well… what are you waiting for? Go on. I'll take good care of him."

David and Wes quickly said their goodbyes and thank you's and were off towards their rooms for many hours of relaxing sleep.

Kurt however stood back, unsure of what to do.

"Honey, what about you? Aren't you tired?"

"um… I … yeah. But I was wondering; would it be ok if I stayed for a little while longer?"

"Oh sure. Stay as long as you like. There is no one here besides us, so you won't disturb anyone. Just let him have some sleep, ok? And let me know, if you need me."

She said with a knowing smile, patting Kurt on his arm and leaving the room to work in her office.

Kurt turned to Blaine again, who was smiling at him lazily, very close to falling asleep.

"I'm fine you know. You can go to your room if you like."

"Oh shut up and move over."

Blaine looked at Kurt in confusion.

"Yeah…you heard right. Now move over. I'd like to lie down next to you for a change…. Unless you feel uncomfortable of course."

Once Blaine finally found his speech he answered:

"No… I uh… I'd like that."

He struggled to sit up and scoot over, so Kurt could have some space.

Kurt laid down next to Blaine, taking off his shoes and jacket and making himself comfortable.

Blaine didn't know what to do or how to move. And Kurt sensed his confusion and pulled Blaine down by his sleeve.

"Come on… lie down. You need to rest."

He pulled Blaine's head onto his shoulder and wrapped an arm around his shoulders, so Blaine was lying on his side, snuggled up to Kurt.

Blaine sighed contently, when Kurt covered them with a warm blanket.

"I know that David and Wes will yell at you, once you're recovered. And I might want in on that.

But most importantly we will have to talk about us. I know there is more going on...between us, I mean. I know that I have been very, very wrong in the past, but a blind man with a crutch would know.

And I refuse to be the dumb blind boy for longer, not acknowledging what's right in front of me. Believe me, I'm super nervous and it's taking all my courage to say this…. But apparently I have to be the direct one right now.

So…. Relax, recuperate and then we'll have a talk. Unless you tell me right now, that you don't want to."

Blaine smiled against his collarbone and nodded softly.

He was feeling better, with meds running through him and a lovely, soft and adorable body next to him. There was nowhere else he wanted to be right now, so he said:

"No… I'd like that very much." And after a pause he added: "Thank you for … just uh ... for being you."

It was Kurt's turn to smile at that.

"You're very welcome. Now sleep. I need you to get better soon."

They both fell asleep feeling good. Good about themselves and happy to be in each others lives. Ms. Moore quietly shut the door, wanting to give them more privacy while shielding them from any authority figures. They've had enough trouble for a few days, they could have a day of respite.

The End ...

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**A/N: Well this it folks. At least for now. There's always room for more, I suppose.**

**This was my very first fanfic writing experience and let me tell you - it has been pretty amazing.  
I can't believe how gratifying it is to receive feedback on stuff I usually would just save on my computer, to not be seen by anyone.  
It hasn't been particulary easy to write in English, but that makes me even prouder to have finished.  
**

**I do love hurt and vulnerable Blaine, so let me know if you have a perfect story for me to read :)**

**Until the next time I can't help but post a story.**

**It has been a blast, thanks for hanging in there!**

**Love,  
J  
**


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